NEC Nijmegen v Ajax Betting Tips [8 January 2023]

The Eredivisie returns after the World Cup break with matchday 15 as defending champions Ajax travel to Nimega to take on NEC at the Goffertstadion. It’s been somewhat of an inconsistent start for Ajax given their extremely high standards. De Godenzonen have already lost as many games this season (3) as they had in all of the 2021/22 Eredivisie campaign and we are not even at the halfway mark yet. Regardless, Ajax still find themselves in second-place in the standings on 30 points and trailing leaders PSV by just three. The visitors are coming off a wild friendly match against Volendam which saw Ajax overcome a 3-0 deficit after 50 minutes to take a 4-3 lead before conceding the equalizer and, finally, netting the eventual winner in the 90th minute to take home a wild 5-4 victory. Their last competitive match before the break finished in a 3-3 draw against Emmen, meaning it’s now been three straight in the Eredivisie without a win. 

Looking to extend their opponents winless run is a NEC side in a good vein of form at the moment. Eniesee entered the World Cup break with a bang, blowing past RKC Waalwijk 6-1 to make it back-to-back league wins. They’ll be hoping their positive momentum, along with their tough-to-beat home form, can carry over into this one. NEC have only lost once on home soil in the Eredivisie so far this season but have struggled ultimately getting over the line. They’ve racked up five draws from their seven home outings and their eight total draws is the highest mark in the division. The hosts have been in much better scoring form when playing in front of the home fans, netting 13 goals in seven matches (1.86 per match average) vs just six goals scored in seven away trips (0.86 per match average).

Ajax’s defense has been quite fragile this season and nowhere near the rock solid backline that conceded only 19 goals in the entirety of the 2021/22 title winning campaign. Backing goals in their matches, home or away, has produced results this season and we don’t see this match being any different. NEC have been successful finding the net at home and should be able to get on the scoresheet in a match that likely finishes 2-1 or 3-1 to the visitors. Our NEC vs Ajax prediction: both teams to score + over 2.5 goals.