Ajax suffered a 1-3 defeat to rivals PSV Eindhoven on Saturday night.

While Ajax had moments throughout the game where they looked promising, they struggled to dominate the game for extended periods of time.

Ricardo Pepi put PSV ahead in the fifth minute before Tolu Arokodare levelled the score with a well-taken goal.

Lutsharel Geertruida restored PSV's lead on the stroke of half-time. Ajax spent the second half searching for an equaliser, but failed to find one. Esmir Bajraktarević made it 1-3 to PSV in stoppage time of the second half to secure the three points for the visitors.

This was a game that could potentially set the tone in the Eredivisie title race, and unfortunately for Ajax, it came too early.

Sofyan Amrabat, Viktor Tsyhankov and Thilo Kehrer all made their debuts coming off the bench today and are still settling into life in Amsterdam. Simon Adingra is not yet fit after officially completing his move to Ajax on deadline day.

Michel's team have shown a lot of positives in the early stages of this season, but there are clearly still parts of the system that need to be improved in the coming weeks.

In an ideal world, Ajax probably would've liked to play this game closer to the winter break, when they will likely be more settled. PSV are probably the better team right now. That doesn't mean Ajax cannot win the Eredivisie, but they are still in a transitional phase. The points that will cost them in the early stages of this season will likely play a significant role in the title race. 

PSV have a big advantage as they are very settled after years of stability.

Tolu has made a massive impact in the early stages of this season after moving to Ajax on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Tolu's goal against PSV Eindhoven on Saturday night was his fourth of the season in all competitions, and his second in the Eredivisie. He also registered two assists in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Conference League.

Against PSV, he had a difficult start, but really grew into the game, especially after scoring. His hold-up play improved immensely as the game went on. He is incredibly strong and also uses his body very well to help keep the ball.

It is obviously still early days, but if he keeps up this form, Ajax will almost certainly have to try and sign him permanently next summer.

Marc ter Stegen is an exceptional goalkeeper who will be incredibly important for Ajax this season. However, the German goalkeeper struggled against PSV on Saturday night.

He arguably could have done better for PSV's first goal, and his usually exceptional passing was quite poor, particularly in the first half. It meant that Ajax regularly struggled to build up.

Ter Stegen gave away the ball quite a lot. His short passing was not as good as usual. On a few occasions, he also played long balls, which isn't a bad thing, especially against PSV's man-to-man press. However, those long balls were at times also quite inaccurate.

Ter Stegen has looked quite good so far since joining Ajax, but his performance on Saturday night was not good enough. That being said, there was a noticeable improvement in the second half.

Aaron Bouwman has the potential to become one of Europe's finest central defenders.

From a defensive point of view, he does have flaws in his game that he must improve. However, on the ball, he is exceptional.

He can break lines with his passing, which can help Ajax progress the ball forward and also find openings against a deep block.

Against PSV, he also showed how incredibly good his ball-carrying is. There were a couple of occasions when he carried the ball over quite a long distance to help Ajax move the ball up the pitch.

As already mentioned, he still has development to do, but he has incredible talent and can go very far. It will be intriguing to see how his career develops over the coming years.

Anton Gaaei has some very impressive attributes in his game, but he struggled against PSV and has been quite inconsistent during his Ajax career. A departure this summer would have suited both parties, as Ajax could have then signed a different right-back.

Caio Henrique is quite an attack-minded full-back and will likely start a large number of games on the left. Ideally, Ajax then need a right-back who can stay deeper and help in build-up, and that is not what Gaaei is good at, as he likes to get forward.