Alkmaar, Netherlands (My Sportsbook) - Marco van Basten's Ajax side is brimming with confidence as they head to DSB Stadion to face fourth-place AZ Alkmaar on Sunday.
After taking just seven points from its first five games under Van Basten, the Dutch legend has watched his team put together a six-game winning streak that includes a 4-1 thrashing of rivals PSV Eindhoven that vaulted the Amsterdam club into first place.
"This was a great win, Van Basten told the club's official website following the PSV match on Sunday. "This gives us confidence for the upcoming matches. We started very well and in the phase that it became a little more difficult, we kept fighting. I have to give the team a compliment for that."
Ajax took a 1-0 lead into the second half but PSV's Ibrahim Afelley equalized in the 56th minute. However, Ajax responded with three goals over the final 15 minutes to claim the points and put a seven-point cushion between themselves and the four-time defending champions.
Ajax is level on points with NAC atop the table, while AZ sits only two points back and could pass Van Basten's men with a win on Sunday.
However, the Ajax boss took even more confidence from the PSV match as he saw both Enoh and Miralem Sulejmani return to the lineup after battling injuries, and he feels that his squad will only get stronger as more players return to health.
"Enoh is an important factor," said Van Basten. "He wins many balls and is a good football player. Sulejmani gives the team extra potency. We have had to deal with many injuries in the past months. Sometimes it even was a matter of 'damage control'. But now that players return, we are only getting stronger."
If that is indeed the case and Ajax is still getting better, that could be a scary thought for the rest of the Eredivisie.
NAC will look to pick up three more points at Rat Verlegh Stadion when the club hosts NEC, third-place Groningen visits Willem II, Heerenveen travels to Twente in a battle of top-half teams, PSV hopes to turn things around with a win over Heracles, Sparta invades Graafschap, Feyenoord entertains Den Haag and Vitesse hits the road to square off with Utrecht.
