Runaway leaders PSV Eindhoven face up against fourth-placed AZ Alkmaar at the Philips Stadion on Saturday evening in one of the standout games of matchday 29 in the Eredivisie.
The hosts are 10 points clear at the top of the table, while the visitors are in fourth place with their sights set on catching FC Twente in the Champions League qualification spot.
Match preview
© Reuters
PSV have been by far the best-performing side in the Eredivisie this season, only suffering their first defeat in the league a week ago when NEC Nijmegen fought back from a goal down to eventually claim a 3-1 victory.
Peter Bosz's men quickly bounced back with an extremely dominant performance against relegation-threatened SBV Excelsior, preventing their opponents from having a single shot while taking 21 of their own as they ran out 2-0 winners - just the second time since records began in 2010-11 that one team has avoided conceding a shot in an Eredivisie game.
With just six games left of the season to play and a 10-point lead over second place, it looks likely that PSV will win their first Eredivisie title since 2017-18, handing Bosz his first major honour as a manager.
Huge credit must go to the former Ajax boss, who has been able to hugely improve upon a team that were already the second-best performing side in the league last year.
PSV have scored a phenomenal 84 goals in 28 league games, just five fewer than the entirety of last season, while they have conceded just 16 in this time, 17 fewer than at the same stage of the previous campaign.
While the title appears all but confirmed as theirs, PSV cannot allow any complacency to slip into their performances so as to avoid any chance of throwing away the league in the final matches.
© Reuters
As for AZ, they will be looking to improve upon their fourth-placed finish last season by going one better this time around and finishing in third position.
They currently trail third-placed FC Twente by five points, but with the two sides set to play each other at the beginning of May, there is still a big opportunity to leapfrog them and claim the Champions League qualification spot.
However, if they are to do that then they must ensure they do not fall any further behind FC Twente, starting with the tough task of getting a result here against the league leaders.
AZ's seven-game unbeaten run came to an end in their previous outing as they were on the wrong end of a shock 5-0 battering by a Heracles side who have been flirting with the relegation places for large parts of the season.
Maarten Martens's side will now be looking to bounce back from that humbling defeat by taking at least a point against PSV, something they have failed to do in either of the previous two meetings.
Team News
© Reuters
Bosz will be without Hirving Lozano for the second match in a row after the forward was forced off through injury during their 3-1 defeat to NEC last weekend.
Noa Lang is set to miss out on the remainder of the season having suffered a hamstring injury against Almere City in January.
That leaves PSV's attacking lineup likely to be identical to the one that played against Excelsior, with Malik Tillman, Guus Til and Johan Bakayoko supporting 22-goal striker Luuk de Jong.
AZ are also coming into this game with multiple injury concerns that could see Martens without up to four of his players.
Bruno Martins Indi is back in training and could make an appearance in this one, while Mayckel Lahdo and Sam Westerveld remain as doubts.
Lequincio Zeefuik remains out of the side after picking up an injury in AZ's 4-0 win over FC Volendam in March.
Eredivisie top scorer Vangelis Pavlidis will start upfront for AZ, and his team will be hoping he can make the difference for them in this one.
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Teze, Ramalho, Boscagli, Dest; Veerman, Junior; Bakayoko, Til, Tillman; De Jong
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Sugawara, Goes, Bazoer, Wolfe; Clasie, Belic; Mijnans, De Wit, Van Brederode; Pavlidis
We say: PSV Eindhoven 3-1 AZ Alkmaar
PSV will be full of confidence coming into this game having had such an excellent season, while AZ are sure to be in short supply having suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat in their last outing, leading us to believe the league leaders will win this one.
The two top scorers in the division are set to come face to face in this one, and we expect both to get on the scoresheet here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
