**Ajax are basically on a rampage, and Excelsior are rolling in for what feels like target practice.** The hosts have buried 10 goals in their last two wins; the visitors scraped a draw with NEC and then got spanked by PSV vibes incoming. 🔥

Ajax dropped only one match (to PSV) in their last five, while Excelsior sit at 2-1-2 — solid enough for the second tier, but nowhere *near* this level. The head-to-head tells the whole story: Ajax have won 18 of the last 26, Excelsior just 2.

Key storylines:

- **Ajax's attacking depth** is scary — Brandt, Berghuis, and Arokodare give them endless options to break a pragmatic Excelsior backline
- **Excelsior's away form** has been respectable (the 3-0 win at Willem II proves they can show up), but the Johan Cruijff Arena is a different beast
- **Ter Stegen's distribution** from the back should carve open Excelsior's press with ease

Expected lineups:

- **AFC Ajax**: M. ter Stegen, Y. Baas, C. Henrique, D. Blind, A. Gaaei, D. Klaassen, O. Gloukh, S. Berghuis, J. Brandt, T. Arokodare
- **Excelsior**: S. van Gassel, S. Janssen, J. Plug, R. Meissen, E. d. S. Moreira, C. Widell, I. Yegoian, L. Hartjes, D. Garden

Prediction:

**Ajax 4-0 Excelsior**

Ajax have too much firepower and too clean a home record to slip up here.