Preview: Excelsior Maassluis vs Ajax – predictions, team news, line-ups

Twenty-time KNVB Beker winners Ajax aim to avoid another early elimination from the Shock Cup on Wednesday when they travel to Sportpark Dijkpolder to face Excelsior Maassluis in the second round of the competition.

The Amsterdam giants have won four consecutive matches in all competitions but will hope to avoid finding themselves stuck at this stage again after losing to fourth-tier club Hercules Utrecht in the 2023-24 season.

Match Preview

Third division strugglers Excelsior will be looking for their Mats Grotenbreg on Wednesday when Ajax visit midweek, aiming for someone to achieve the same heroic status as Grotenbreg two years ago.

On this occasion, the central defender scored a 93rd minute winner for Hercules in a 3-2 win over the Amsterdam giants in the second round in December 2023.

Geert Arend Roorda’s side aim to emulate the fourth division club’s feat by stunning the Eredivisie heavyweights and are looking to secure back-to-back wins in all competitions.

Although defeating Ajax would provide an undeniable boost, the Tricolores have bigger concerns domestically, given their precarious situation in the league, at the third level of the Dutch football pyramid.

A 2-0 home success against Barendrecht at the weekend took them out of the relegation zone and into 17th in the Tweede Divisie, but they are far from safe having picked up just one win in their last five league matches and four in 17 matches.

As such, beating Ajax poses a particularly difficult challenge for the Maassluis club, who were beaten 9-0 the last time the two teams met in January 2022.

The visitors therefore arrive on Wednesday as heavy favourites, a status they always had anyway, given the gap in quality between the clubs.

Fred Grim turned things around for De Joden after a difficult start which saw his side lose three straight matches during a five-game unsuccessful streak.

Since these disappointments against Utrecht (2-1), SBV Excelsior (2-1) and Benfica (2-0), including two in Amsterdam, the Jews have won four consecutive victories, even if mixed performances do not reflect the results.

The Dutch giants were fortunate to beat Groningen 2-0 after the FC side created some valuable scoring chances before Ajax’s first.

In the latter matches, the Amsterdam side beat Fortuna Sittard 3-1 despite the losing side creating significantly better scoring chances, De Joden then needed three late goals to overturn a 2-1 disadvantage in Baku and beat Qarabag 4-2 and hit Feyenoord with the old-fashioned smash-and-grab victory on Sunday, beating the Rotterdam giants 2-0.

Given the vulnerability that still exists amid a run of flawed victories, it will be fascinating to see whether Grim’s side will be stunned at Maassluis as they attempt to secure a fifth straight victory in all competitions for the first time this season and the second time in 2025, after a similar run from January to mid-February.

However, the gap in quality between the clubs indicates that the visitors have significantly higher quality, although Grim is expected to shuffle the squad for the midweek trip.

Form of the Excelsior Maassluis KNVB Cup:

Excelsior Maassluis form (all competitions):

Ajax form (all competitions):

Team News

© Iconsport

It was no surprise when Quincy Tavares scored both goals for Excelsior this weekend, given the striker’s threat on the left flank alongside left back Calvin Tureaij, who was not only active defensively but also threatening in the overlap.

Tavares’ brace made it eight league goals, far more than Jannick Verbont (three) and underlined the importance of the left winger.

However, Verbont appears to carry a superior creative threat, due to his three assists to one and Tavares’ key passes per 90 (1.2), surpassing the top scorer’s average of 0.4.

Grim used five defenders in the win over Feyenoord, but the caretaker boss is expected to revert to a four-man defense in midweek.

Ajax suffered no apparent injuries in the win over the Rotterdam giants, but Steven Berghuis, Josip Sutalo, Wout Weghorst, Kenneth Taylor and James McConnell are all expected to miss out.

While Kasper Dolberg could have led the line if Weghorst was available, the Dane could be replaced by Don-Angelo Konadu up front; Konadu, 19, has had a few defeats in recent times, notably in Baku, where he scored one of the goals coming off the bench in the 4-2 victory.

Possible starting lineup for Excelsior Maassluis:

Fakiri; Varela, Ringeling, Udenhout, Tureaij; Van Eerden, Planche, Hamd; Verbont, Wennekers, Tavares

Possible Ajax starting line-up:

feather key; Alders, Bouman, Baas, Rosa; Sturgeon, Itakura, Mokio; Edvardsen, Konadu, Moro

We say: Excelsior Maassluis 1-4 Ajax

Excelsior’s clean sheet this weekend was their first shutout in six games, but recording back-to-back shutouts will be a herculean task against mighty Ajax.

The Amsterdam heavyweights should therefore avoid an embarrassing second-round elimination in Maassluis by recording a comfortable victory.

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