Fans and followers will consider Ajax – AZ as the most interesting game of round 1. It is one of the regional derbies in Holland, this time in the province Noord-Holland. It is exciting to see a match scheduled in the first round between 2 top-quality teams. The recent years both teams have been competing for the championship and there is hardly any doubt it will be the same again this year.

AZ, champion of 2009, will hope for the same great start they had last year. Because of the loss of some quality players, only a few people considered them to be favorites for the title. But eventually, they were able to stay at the top of the league for 2/3 of the season and arguably played the best football. They were not able to sustain in the league, likely due to their obligations in other competitions (semifinal Dutch Cup ufabet เว็บตรงทางเข้า มือถือ and quarterfinal UEFA Europa League). But they once again showed they are a force to be reckoned with and obviously will want to finish at the top of the table this year. It is a bit of a same scenario. Some important players left and a few more expressed their wishes to play elsewhere. But they have a reputation that they never suffer from that. Their fans will want them to win the opening match more than ever, because they are playing one of their biggest rivals Ajax.

The Ajax’ fans may not consider AZ as big as a rival as the other way around, but the last few years there has been great competition between the teams. This resulted in great games between them. Ajax may have won the last 2 editions of the Dutch Eredivisie, but they know their competitors in game 1 will not just “rollover and play dead”. Ajax is a team which can rely on a steady home-form, but it is yet to see how the team will do in their season-opener. Playing AZ in the 1st game will not make things easier and also losing captain Vertonghen, voted best player in the league last season, might leave its mark on the rest of the squad. And Ajax wasn’t able to win the last 3 games against AZ. It is unsure if they are able to start with the first team they had in mind. A few players are suffering from injuries and might not be fit in time.

All in all, it promises to be an exciting match, with lots of things to consider that could be the deciding factor.