With a place in the KNVB Beker quarter-final on the line, PSV Eindhoven and SBV Excelsior will lock horns at the Philips Stadion in Tuesday's round-of-16 encounter.
The home side emphatically saw off the threat of Tweede Divisie outfit Koninklijke HFC in the last-32 stage, while their visitors eased past the challenge of Eindhoven FC.
Match preview
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Having been granted safe passage into the fourth round of the KNVB Beker, PSV Eindhoven kicked off their cup campaign against HFC on December 17 and romped to a commanding 8-0 triumph to lay down an early statement of intent.
Peter Bosz's men had a helping hand from the opponents, who inadvertently put the ball into their net on two occasions, with Hirving Lozano, Guus Til, Ricardo Pepi (two) and Ivan Perisic (two) grabbing the other six strikes.
De Rood-witten's cup triumph at the time snapped a two-game losing run, but they have since beaten Feyenoord 3-0 in their final outing of 2024, before kicking off the new year with a 2-2 draw against AZ Alkmaar on Sunday.
Currently top of the Eredivisie table just past the midway point, PSV remain firmly in the hunt for a first league and cup double in two decades after being knocked out by defending champions Feyenoord in last year's Dutch Cup.
In the second of a highly demanding six-game schedule in January, Tuesday's hosts now set out to return to winning ways on home turf, having failed to win in front of their fans for the first time since October last time out.
Excelsior began their KNVB-Beker journey by narrowly beating VVV Venlo 2-1 at Van Donge & De Roo Stadion on October 29, before edging out Eindhoven FC in December's meeting between the sides courtesy of a 3-1 victory.
After drawing blanks in all of his league outings prior, Zach Booth was an unlikely source of goals as he netted two first-half goals to put Ruben den Uil's men in control, after which Jacky Donkor sealed the deal in first-half stoppage time.
Excelsior's first cup outing this term marked the start of an 11-game unbeaten run across all competitions to propel them to second place in the Eerste Divisie table, just one point shy of leaders Volendam.
Just a few months after dropping down to the second division, De Roodzwarten now have the opportunity to test themselves against the team at the pinnacle of Dutch football as they prepare for a potential return to the top tier.
Tuesday's visitors have an abysmal record against the home side having been beaten in 19 of the last 20 editions of this fixture, including each of the most recent 11 clashes by an aggregate score of 34-5.
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Team News
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Fode Fofana and Sergino Dest are unavailable for PSV Eindhoven once again due to knee injuries, while Couhaib Driouech continues to battle with an ankle problem.
Rick Karsdorp has had his debut season plagued by injuries, and the defender is ruled out of contention for the home side here alongside Adamo Nagalo, who is unfit to play any part through a shoulder issue.
Luuk de Jong was rested for the last cup game, but off the back of three goals scored in his last two outings, he will be keen to continue his hot streak in front of goal.
Following his winner against Dordrecht, Lance Duijvestijn has now been directly involved in five goals in his nine appearances for Excelsior, making him one to keep an eye on.
Arthur Zagre made his return from suspension in the aforementioned game, and the Frenchman is expected to retain his place in the lineup for Tuesday's game.
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Drommel; Ledezma, Obispo, Dams, Oppegard; Veerman, Schouten; Perisic, Til, Lozano; Pepi
SBV Excelsior possible starting lineup:
Raatsie; Bronkhorst, Widell, Warmerdam, Zagre; Hatenboer, Naujoks, Hartjes; Fernandes, Duijvestijn, Booth
We say: PSV Eindhoven 4-1 SBV Excelsior
PSV are expected to ring the changes for this one but should still have enough quality to cruise to a routine victory.
We fully fancy the home side to get the job done, scoring plenty of goals en route to the last eight.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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