Aiming to make it 22 league games unbeaten and strengthen their eye-catching position at the summit of the Eredivisie table, PSV Eindhoven will welcome Heracles to the Philips Stadion on Friday.
Having still not suffered a defeat in the Dutch top flight this term, the Boeren sit 10 points clear of second place in the race for the title, while their visitors maintained a slight lead over the relegation zone with an important victory last time out.
Match preview
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PSV Eindhoven find themselves in the midst of a historic campaign in their bid to regain the Eredivisie title for the first time since 2018, having enjoyed an unbeaten start spanning 21 games thus far to build a healthy lead.
Indeed, the Boeren have only dropped points twice in those matches, both of which having come in their last four outings after winning each of their opening 17 games, scoring 59 goals along the way while only conceding seven.
That winning streak to begin the title bid was eventually halted in a 1-1 draw away at Utrecht in mid-January, and after bouncing back with a 2-0 beating of Almere City, they were again held away from home against rivals Ajax at the beginning of the month, drawing level through Luuk de Jong in the first half after Steven Bergwijn's early opener.
Again bidding to return to winning ways following a slight setback, Peter Bosz's side travelled to strugglers Volendam on Sunday and bounced back in style, dishing out a 5-1 beating with Ismael Saibari, Jerdy Schouten, Jordan Teze, Ricardo Pepi and Isaac Babadi getting on the scoresheet after a Teze own goal had the hosts ahead inside the opening minute.
With spirits still bound to be high, given the two recent draws are the only blemishes on a fine start to the campaign with 19 wins, 59 points and 68 goals on the board in 21 outings, while they still lead second-placed Feyenoord by 10 points, PSV Eindhoven will bid to make it back-to-back Eredivisie triumphs on Friday and further extend their cushion heading into the final months of the title race with just 39 points left to fight for.
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In their way stand a Heracles side who will also look for a second straight win in their own important fight at the other end of the division, having recently built a slight lead over the Eredivisie's relegation zone.
Aiming to maintain their top-flight status after winning promotion last time around, Friday's visitors sat in a concerning position at the turn of the year, as a dismal nine-game run left them on just 15 points from 16 outings.
John Lammers's side have shown a degree of improvement since returning to action in mid-January, though, adding seven more points to their tally in the last five attempts, firstly ending a run of three straight defeats with a 2-1 triumph away at RKC Waalwijk thanks to goals from Emil Hansson and Mario Engels.
A draw with Volendam then followed, and after slipping back into consecutive defeats at the hands of Ajax and NEC, the Heraclieden were able to bounce back when they hosted Vitesse on Saturday, despite going 2-0 down in the first half, as they went on to turn the game on its head against 10 men thanks to Jordy Bruijn's goal and Jizz Hornkamp's second-half brace.
Thanks to that result and their recent improvement, Heracles now sit 14th, four points clear of RKC Waalwijk in the relegation playoff place and 10 ahead of the automatic drop zone, and they will now bid to increase their cushion and become the first side to hand PSV Eindhoven a league defeat this season.
Team News
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Peter Bosz may opt to deploy an unchanged PSV Eindhoven starting XI from their 5-1 beating of Volendam last time out, with winger Noa Lang and defender Armel Bella-Kotchap remaining sidelined by injuries.
Ricardo Pepi will bid to come into the front line in their 4-3-3 shape after his goal off the bench, though, likely battling with Johan Bakayoko and Hirving Lozano to feature in support of talismanic front man Luuk de Jong, who has notched up 26 goals in 33 appearances across all competitions so far this term including 18 alongside eight assists in their 21 Eredivisie games thus far.
With key midfielder Guus Til also confined to the treatment room, Ismael Saibari and Jerdy Schouten should continue alongside Joey Veerman in the midfield in their 4-3-3 shape, after both getting on the scoresheet last weekend, while Andre Ramalho and Olivier Boscagli are mainstays at the heart of a back four.
Heracles continue to deal with several injury issues of their own heading into Friday's meeting, with Sava-Arangel Cestic, Ruben Roosken, Diego van Oorschot and Lasse Wehmeyer all set to remain sidelined.
They may be unaltered from Saturday's win over Vitesse, with Jizz Hornkamp bound to lead the line again, having taken his tally to five goals in just six Eredivisie appearances this term with a crucial brace in that game.
He will have support from wingers Jordy Bruijn and Emil Hansson, while Ajdin Hrustic and Brian De Keersmaecker should again partner up in the engine room with Navajo Bakboord, Sven Sonnenberg and Justin Hoogma set to continue at the heart of the defence.
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Teze, Boscagli, Ramalho, Dest; Saibari, Schouten, Veerman; Pepi, De Jong, Lozano
Heracles possible starting lineup:
Brouwer; Wieckhoff, Bakboord, Sonnenberg, Hoogma, Oppegard; Bruijn, Hrustic, De Keersmaecker, Hansson; Hornkamp
We say: PSV Eindhoven 3-0 Heracles
While PSV Eindhoven have dropped points twice in recent weeks, Peter Bosz's side are still in fine form and full of momentum, and with much more quality than their visitors, we fancy them to prevail in comfortable fashion and go 13 points clear at the top of the Dutch top flight on Friday.
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Sam Varley
