‘Huge surprise in line-up Ajax against PSV’

On Sunday, the squatter between PSV and Ajax is on the program in the battle for second place in the competition. And journalist Mike Verweij expects a big surprise in the attitude of the team from Amsterdam. He thinks that Heitinga will opt for Jurrien Timber and Jorrel Hato in the center of the defense.

Edson Álvarez received a yellow card against FC Emmen (3-1 win), so he misses the top match in Eindhoven. Verweij expects Hato to be preferred to Calvin Bassey. The young defender has been developing well recently and is therefore an option.

In the football podcast Kick-Off, Valentijn Driessen does not agree with that suggestion. “Then you get the same kind of scenario as when Frenkie de Jong had to defend against Luuk de Jong,” said the football chief. “If Luuk de Jong plays along, you will lose it in the air in such a way that it will become life-threatening.”

Driessen continues: “De Jong hardly moves, so all Bassey has to do is fight De Jong. He can. He can also make headlines, so drafting Bassey seems like an ABC to me. Timber and Hato can then continue to take care of the construction.”

Verweij calls that the opportunity for PSV to hurt Ajax. The Ajax watcher thinks that trainer John Heitinga should choose Hato after all, although there is certainly a risk involved. “It’s a big risk, because if things go wrong, a boy like that will be thrown back months in his development,” he says.