Ajax and PSV meet in Amsterdam for the season's first major Eredivisie test

Context

On Saturday, September 5, 2026, at 20:00 CEST, Amsterdam's Johan Cruyff ArenA hosts a clash between two Dutch giants — Ajax and PSV Eindhoven. It is round 5 of the Eredivisie, and both sides arrive unbeaten this season, making it an early test in the title race.

League standings

According to OneFootball, PSV sit second with 10 points from four matches (three wins, one draw), while Ajax are fourth with seven points from three matches (two wins, one draw) — PSV three points clear, a gap also confirmed by Goal.com. PSV's last two rounds brought commanding wins, 5-1 over Groningen and 6-1 over Utrecht, while Ajax beat Telstar 4-0 and PEC Zwolle 2-0; their only home match so far ended in a 2-2 draw with Heerenveen. Flashscore adds that across all competitions Ajax have scored 30 and conceded 12 goals in nine matches, with nine of those conceded goals coming in a four-game stretch in mid-to-late August. PSV, meanwhile, opened their season with a 2-2 home draw against Fortuna Sittard and a 0-4 loss to AZ in the Johan Cruyff Shield before finding their winning form.

Confirmed line-ups

Closer to kick-off, Goal.com published the confirmed starting elevens. Ajax: Ter Stegen; Gaaei, Bouwman, Baas, Henrique; Klaassen, Mokio, Brandt; Berghuis, Tolu, Gloukh. PSV: Kovar; Dest, Geertruida, Obispo, Mauro Júnior; Fernandez, Til, Sano; Perisic, Pepi, Van Bommel. Notably, this marks Lutsharel Geertruida's first full start for PSV, at centre-back, in place of Ryan Flamingo. That differs from earlier previews — Goal.com's Brazilian edition had suggested Ajax might start Sofyan Amrabat and Abdellah Ouazane, but the final line-up featured Mokio and Gloukh instead.

Injuries — conflicting reports

Sources disagree on player availability. OneFootball states neither team has any reported injuries, while Flashscore and LANCE! list several absentees. According to those two outlets, PSV are missing Sami Ouaissa, Sam Lammers, Mikkel Bro Hansen, Dennis Man and Kiliann Sildillia, plus long-term absentees Jerdy Schouten and Alassane Plea; LANCE! also notes that Joey Veerman's sale to Borussia Dortmund left a creative gap in midfield. For Ajax, Flashscore reports Daley Blind, Rayane Bounida and Simon Adingra are out, while new signings Amrabat, Viktor Tsygankov and Thilo Kehrer were declared fit — yet LANCE! lists Tsygankov specifically among Ajax's absentees for this match, a direct contradiction between the two sources.

Head-to-head and outlook

Historical data also diverges: OneFootball says PSV lead the last ten meetings with four wins to Ajax's two and four draws, whereas LANCE! highlights that Ajax are unbeaten in the last five meetings (two wins, three draws), with the most recent, on May 2, ending 2-2. In the all-time series, per LANCE!, Ajax lead 83 wins to PSV's 68, with 37 draws. Analysts expect a high-scoring contest, given PSV average 3.75 goals per Eredivisie match this season while Ajax concede just 0.67 per league game on average.