Ajax do not have the luxury of overthinking this one. After the PSV Eindhoven defeat, Saturday night’s trip to Fortuna Sittard is exactly the sort of game that demands a sharp response, not a polite one. The good news for Ajax is that a projected lineup points to several changes, with Sofyan Amrabat expected to make his first start for the club after coming off the bench in his debut last weekend.
The bigger picture is awkward enough already. Ajax have taken seven points from four Eredivisie games, which is respectable on paper but still leaves room for concern after a start that has mixed control with frustration. They beat PEC Zwolle 0-2 on the opening day, drew 2-2 with SC Heerenveen after leading 2-0 in their first home league game, then thumped Telstar 0-4 before last week’s loss to PSV. That is not the pattern of a team that can afford to drift again.
Fortuna Sittard, by contrast, have opened strongly. They drew 2-2 with PSV in their first league match, beat SC Cambuur, lost to AZ Alkmaar, then picked up away wins over FC Groningen and ADO Den Haag. Ten points from five games is a proper start, and it means Ajax are walking into a fixture against a side that has already shown plenty of resilience.
Projected Ajax changes
The expected alterations are the story here. Sofyan Amrabat and Thilo Kehrer are both predicted to come in, while Jorthy Mokio and Oscar Gloukh are also in line for starts. Rayane Bounida’s 20 minutes for Jong Ajax against RKC Waalwijk on Friday night is another detail that underlines how the squad is being managed across the week.
This is not about panic. It is about making sure the response is immediate and convincing. Ajax have already shown they can win matches this season, but the draw with SC Heerenveen and the defeat to PSV both exposed how fragile things can look when control slips away. That is why this predicted XI matters. It suggests Michel Sanchez is prepared to change the shape of the conversation quickly rather than pretend the PSV result was just an isolated bad night.
Amrabat’s first start is the headline, and fairly so. A season-long loan does not come with patience forever, especially at a club where the expectations are absolute. If Ajax are serious about turning early-season promise into something more stable, this is the kind of fixture where the new pieces need to look like solutions, not experiments.
Fortuna Sittard have earned the right to be taken seriously, but Ajax have more urgency. Seven points from four games is fine. Falling into a soft response after PSV would not be. Saturday night is about proving Ajax can reset fast, and that starts with the line-up looking more decisive from the first whistle.
