In the Eredivisie competition - a difficult start for the champions and the pains of Ajax growth

2023-09-07 14:24 © AFP

“Eredivisie” championship is already 4 rounds in. However, three of the main teams PSV, AZ, and “Ajax” have played one game less due to the Europa tournaments qualifiers.

The previous season champions “Feyenoord” are struggling a bit. In the first games of the season, Arne Slot's team could not beat “Fortuna Sittard” at home (0:0), and in the second, city derby they could not defeat Rotterdam's “Sparta” (2:2). Afterwards, the Rotterdam team won two games, but after 4 rounds they are in 4th place with just 8 points.

“Ajax” team is experiencing some growing pains. This summer they acquired very interesting players for 108 million euros - Georges Mikautadze from “Metz”, Josip Sutalo from Zagreb's “Dinamo”, Chuba Akpom from “Middlesbrough”, Carlos Borges from “Manchester City”, Borna Sosa from “Stuttgart”, Gaston Avila from Antwerp's “Royal”, Benjamin Tahirovic from “AS Roma”.

With so many signings at the beginning of the season, it should not be easy, the team needs time to gel. And the results are showing it - only one win and 5 points after 3 games. This season, the Amsterdam club is playing in the Europa League, not the Champions League.

The PSV club, led by a new coach Peter Bosz, had a successful start in the Champions League - 9 points after 3 games. The same can be said about AZ, who have been among the top teams for years now. The legendary “Twente” club is also marching on without errors, except for the misfortune in the Conference League qualifiers.

At the bottom of the standings are four clear outsiders with 0 points - “Volendam”, newcomers “Almere City”, “Waalwijk”, and somewhat unexpectedly “Utrecht” team.

The top scorers of the championship are AZ forward Vangelis Pavlidis and “Feyenoord” striker Santiago Gimenez with 5 goals each.