Ajax — Heracles : Match Preview and Prediction for August 24,2025

Ajax’s Pre-Season and Initial League Performance

Following a profoundly disappointing conclusion to the previous season, during which Ajax inadvertently ceded the championship title to PSV, the club committed to a comprehensive pre-season regimen, participating in a notable seven friendly matches. Amidst several promising displays, including a dominant 5-1 thrashing of Celtic and an evenly contested 2-2 draw with Monaco, a surprising 0-3 defeat to Como notably stood out.

Eredivisie Start and Defensive Vulnerabilities

The “Ajacieds” commenced their Eredivisie campaign with a fairly solid start, first securing a 2-0 victory over Telstar, followed by a 2-2 draw against Go Ahead Eagles. Nevertheless, their defensive performance raises significant concerns; astonishingly, in just two league fixtures, their goal faced 27 shots.

Transfer Activity and Key Player Departures

The club’s management invested 36.2 million euros to acquire three new talents: Ko Itakura (from Borussia M), Oscar Gloukh (from RB Salzburg), and Raul Moro (from Valladolid). However, the most significant transfer event, and concurrently the biggest loss of the summer, was Jorrel Hato’s move to Chelsea for 44.2 million euros.

Ajax’s Unavailable Players

Johnny Heitinga will be without six players for the upcoming encounter, with Brian Brobbey and Josip Sutalo being particularly crucial absences from the squad.

Heracles’ Challenging Start to the Season

Last season, Heracles was widely regarded as a primary candidate for relegation, yet they impressively managed to retain their top-flight status following a strong finish. However, their initiation into the current Eredivisie campaign has been nothing short of catastrophic. The visiting side has succumbed to two defeats, with an aggregate score of 1-8. They were first comprehensively outplayed 0-4 by Europa League participant Utrecht, and a similar narrative unfolded at home against NAC Nijmegen, resulting in a 1-4 loss.

Squad Limitations and Managerial Challenges

Such a dismal start was somewhat foreseeable, considering not only their previous season’s struggles but also the lack of significant squad reinforcement by Heracles’ owners, who opted for targeted transfers exclusively from free agents. While they successfully retained the core of their team, its overall effectiveness remains questionable. Bas Sibum endeavors to extract peak performance, but the squad clearly suffers from a shortage of high-caliber players and insufficient depth. The latter deficiency is particularly evident, as the visitors consistently experience a marked physical decline during the second halves of their matches.

Critical Absences for Heracles

Taking into account all of Heracles’ current difficulties, one can only feel sympathy for Sibum, as he faces the additional challenge of being without three crucial players for the upcoming fixture: Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Jizz Hornkamp, and Mario Engels.