Amsterdam, Netherlands (My Sportsbook) - Second-place Ajax dropped six points behind league-leaders AZ Alkmaar last weekend after the Amsterdam side fell 1-0 to Groningen.
The lone goal was scored by Danny Holla in the 39th minute, but Ajax boss Marco van Basten was left to reflect on his team's many wasted chances.
"Holla's goal made the difference in the first half," Van Basten told the club's official website. "We had our own chances, but did not use them."
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Ajax and they are now only one point ahead of third-place Twente, while leaders AZ continued to roll through the rest of the league by beating Graafschap 2-0 last time out, the club's eighth successive win.
Van Basten knows that his team cannot afford to fall too far behind AZ, and despite the loss last week, the boss felt that his team deserved more from the match.
"In the second half we put up a good fight," Van Basten said. "Besides Thomas hitting the crossbar, Suarez was also free before Luciano. Unfortunately, the ball would not go in this time. We lost an important match in the race for the championship. That obviously makes me sad, especially because we deserved more in the second half."
The Amsterdam side will also be looking to turn around their 5-2 defeat to Heerenveen from earlier this season, but they will have to do so without the help of Eyong Enoh (hamstring), Daley Blind, Bruno Silva (both groin), Jan- Arie van der Heijden (left knee), Mitchell Donald (left knee) and Ismail Aissati (right knee), while Jan Vertonghen is out through suspension.
Heerenveen enters the match having won its last three games but will be trying to win just its third game in Amsterdam in their last 17 tries.
AZ will try to consolidate its lead at the top by beating Sparta on Sunday, while Twente looks to extend its unbeaten run to 10 games when the club hosts Utrecht.
Fifth-place PSV Eindhoven looks to get back on track at relegation-threatened Graafschap, while Feyenoord visits NEC, Groningen travels to Den Haag, Willem II hosts Vitesse, and last-place Volendam invades NAC.
