Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Eredivisie clash between Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
PSV Eindhoven have watched other clubs in the Eredivisie attempt and fail against the league-leading Feyenoord, and the reigning champions aim to take matters into their hands in Sunday’s highly anticipated De Kraker clash at De Kuip.
Peter Bosz’s side are three points behind the undefeated Rotterdam outfit, whose resilient defence has let in just six goals so far this season; it will be intriguing to see if PSV can find success in this weekend’s clash between two of the Netherlands’ Big Three.
Match preview
Robin van Persie was in situ in Rotterdam in May when Feyenoord believed they were on course to break a four-year Eredivisie drought by winning against their Eindhoven rivals.
Goals from Igor Paixao and Givairo Read within the first ten minutes put De Stadionclub 2-0 ahead and set them up for a positive result against the Peasants.
However, Feyenoord were powerless to stop PSV as they mounted a second-half fightback, scoring three goals, with the final one coming in the ninth minute of stoppage time, resulting in the Stadium Club’s third consecutive league defeat to their Eindhoven rivals.
This season, though, has begun remarkably for Van Persie and his team, with eight wins and one draw leaving them nearly unblemished before hosting the defending champions on Sunday.
They are not only the league’s second-highest goalscorers with 25 goals, but their defence has also been nearly impenetrable so far, as evidenced by six clean sheets in the first nine gameweeks.
Only three teams have managed to breach Feyenoord’s defence this season in the Eredivisie, with AZ Alkmaar’s three goals accounting for half of the six scored against them, further highlighting how solid Van Persie’s men have been this season as they have started the campaign clearly aiming to secure a 17th top-flight title.
PSV will undoubtedly challenge their opponents’ defence on Sunday, as the division’s leading scorers aim for their eighth win of the season to equal 25 points with the league leaders.
Bosz’s team has achieved impressive results on their travels thus far, entering this weekend as the only top-flight club yet to drop points away from home.
Boeren have netted 13 goals across their four away victories, conceding just four, including a 5-3 win at NEC in mid-September and a recent 4-0 triumph at PEC Zwolle to begin October.
Like Feyenoord, the reigning Dutch champions come into Sunday’s game on the back of a three-match winning streak, with the Eindhoven giants’ most recent 6-2 thrashing of Antonio Conte’s Napoli standing out during this sequence of wins.
Having remained unbeaten in all competitions since a surprising Champions League defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise in September, the Peasants’ unbeaten run in the league extends back a month earlier, when they were surprised 2-0 by promoted Telstar at Philips Stadion.
Since then, Bosz’s troops have won four and drawn one, scoring 15 in that period; however, Feyenoord have matched that form, scoring the same number and conceding five — two fewer than PSV’s seven — and this weekend’s hosts represent the greatest threat to the defending champions extending their nine-match winning away streak in the Eredivisie, dating back to March this year.
Feyenoord Eredivisie form:
Feyenoord form (all competitions):
PSV Eindhoven Eredivisie form:
PSV Eindhoven form (all competitions):
Team News
While Quinten Timber‘s foot injury makes him uncertain for this weekend, Feyenoord are unlikely to have Thomas Beelen (broken leg), Gernot Trauner (Achilles), Jakub Moder (back) and Malcolm Jeng (leg) available.
Although Ayase Ueda fired blanks in Thursday’s 3-1 Europa League victory over Panathinaikos, the forward’s 11 Eredivisie goals are six clear of several players on five, and the Japanese aims to add to his impressive tally.
Also posing attacking threats are Anis Hadj Moussa — fresh off scoring a brace in last weekend’s 7-0 thrashing of Heracles and in the comeback Europa League victory — and Sem Steijn, with both players seeking to add to their four and five league goals, respectively.
Dennis Man scored a brace in PSV’s remarkable 6-2 beatdown of Napoli in the Champions League, and the forward is expected to start alongside Guus Til and Ivan Perisic in a front four also comprising Ismael Saibari.
Saibari has scored or assisted in six consecutive matches for PSV across all competitions, positioning him as one of the away side’s potential match-winners.
Nevertheless, Joey Veerman and Ivan Perisic lead for goals plus assists in the PSV ranks — with eight and six respectively — highlighting the Peasants’ collective strength across the pitch.
Bosz’s team will navigate Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash without injured Ruben van Bommel, Alassane Plea and Kiliann Sidillia.
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Read, Ahmedhodzic, Smal, Bos; Steijn, Targhalline, Valente; Mousa, Ueda, Sauer
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Kovar; Flamingo, Schouten, Gasiorowski, Salah-Eddine; Junior, Veerman; Man, Saibari, Perisic; Til
We say: Feyenoord 2-2 PSV Eindhoven
Feyenoord have conceded just two goals in four matches at De Kuip this season, but it is hard to see how they stay as watertight on Sunday.
PSV are the league’s top scorers for a reason, and we expect them to score more than once in Rotterdam; however, Van Persie’s team should match them in what could be a high-scoring draw between the league’s finest clubs.
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