The Eredivisie is gearing up for the ‘Klassieker’ between Ajax and Feyenoord on Sunday. Meanwhile the Netherlands suffer from extreme snowfall and many matches could be postponed this weekend.
Many Eredivisie clubs fear they have to postpone their matches this weekend because of heavy snowfall in the Netherlands on Friday. FC Twente-Heracles Almelo was postponed on Friday. Ajax-Feyenoord will not be cancelled on Sunday because the Amsterdam Arena has a roof to keep away the snow.’
The Dutch ‘Klassieker’ has devaluated over the past years because Feyenoord were not able to live up to their standards as a traditional top three club in the Eredivisie. This year Ajax will try to show their revived spirit and attacking tradition under their newly appointed coach Frank de Boer, who won his first two matches at AC Milan (2-0) and Vitesse (1-0), while Feyenoord are struggling to keep out of relegation trouble.
On Saturday number three ranked FC Groningen visit Excelsior, who are struggling with only one win in their last 12 matches after three victories in the first six match rounds.
“This not just another match for us”, Hercales coach Peter Bosz said about the derby at FC Twente on Friday. At home Heracles drew 0-0 against the title holders, who want to set things straight after they were blown away 6-2 at sc Heerenveen last week.
Twente-trainer Michel Preud’homme has some injury problems to solve in his attacking line. Bryan Ruiz, who was also injured last week, will not return until after the winter break and centre forward Marc Janko suffers froma hamstring injury. Veteran stand-in Arnold Bruggink was ill last week and he did not train on Thursday. He may be fit to play however.
Bosz has less troubles, but he’ll have to fill in the gap of midfielder Marko Vejinovic, who is recovering from an intestinal infection. Defender Birger Maertens suffers from a groin injury.
Heerenveen are full of confidence after they crushed title holders FC Twente 6-2 last week with Oussama Assaidi scoring a hat-trick and handing to assists. Ron Jans’s team will take on injury struck De Graafschap on Saturday.
The ‘Superboeren’, who will have to do with injured captain Muslu Nalbantoglu for the rest of the season, will also have to do without injured Youssouf Hersi, Jordy Buijs and suspended Yuri Rose. Club top scorer Rydell Poepon is doubtful due to ankle troubles.
De Graafschap only won once in 11 previous Eredivisie matches at Heerenveen. At home they defeated 3-2 Heerenveen in an exciting match this season. Muslu Nalbantoglu and Rydell Poepon (2x) scored. The ‘Superboeren’ never beat Heerenveen twice in one Eredivisie season.
NAC Breda won their delayed Eredivisie match against at Excelsior 3-1 last Wednesday, but they lost Matthew Amoah. The club top scorer, who netted nine times this season, went of the pitch with a muscle injury and he will be out for at least a month.
Vitesse lost 1-0 at home against Ajax last week and coach Albert Ferrer saw that his team is far from playing dominantly in the desired FC Barcelona-style attacking 4-3-3 format. In terms of points average Vitesse performs hardly any better than under sacked coach Theo Bos, who collected 13 points from 14 matches this season. Ferrer grabbed four points from four matches.
NAC will try to maintain their top seven spot, which eventually would earn them a spot for the Europa League play-offs. Vitesse are still struggling to stay out of relegation trouble.
On Saturday number three ranked FC Groningen visit Excelsior, who are struggling with only one win in their last 12 matches after three victories in the first six match rounds.
Groningen come from a 2-0 win against AZ, a result that not really represented the balance of play on the pitch. Coach Pieter Huistra and his team were outplayed, but collected the three points to continue firmly take third place on the table. Against Excelsior they will miss Tim Sparv, who is suspended after a red card in the match against AZ.
Excelsior, who are ranked 16th, are not doing very well, having lost their delayed home match against NAC Breda 3-1 on Wednesday. The match against Groningen provides a chance to increase the gap with bottom two team VVV-Venlo and Willem II. Groningen collected most points at home and only won two away matches: at VVV and Willem II.
Willem II are on their way to break the record non winning Eredivisie streak in club history. With their 25th winless match last week, when they lost 3-1 at NEC, they equaled the record of 25, which was set twice (1966-1979 and 1983-1987).
If Willem II fail to win again, they will be without a win since 14 March 2010 and 18 matches into the season. RBC Roosendaal (2005/2006) and Dordrecht ‘90 (1994/1995) join the record worse start in Eredivisie history with 25 winless match rounds.
ADO are an opposite story. Under rookie coach John van den Brom they are playing their best season in 40 years up to the moment. ADO have 26 points from 18 matches, which is only four less than they collected last year in 34 matches.
The last match round before the winter break in the Eredivisie features the showcase match between Ajax and Feyenoord in Amsterdam. The Dutch ‘Klassieker’ has devaluated over the past years because Feyenoord were not able to live up to their standards as a traditional top three club in the Eredivisie. This year Ajax will try to show their revived spirit and attacking tradition under their newly appointed coach Frank de Boer, who won his first two matches at AC Milan (2-0) and Vitesse (1-0), while Feyenoord are struggling to keep out of relegation trouble.
In total Ajax and Feyenoord met 55 times in Amsterdam, with Ajax winning 29 times and Feyenoord 11 times. The home team won the last four editions of this match. The last Feyenoord victory came on 28 August 2005: 2-1. In home and away matches Ajax are undefeated nine times against their Rotterdam arch rivals and the last time Feyenoord managed to keep a clean sheet in Amsterdam was in 1978.
For Frank de Boer it will be his first ‘Klassieker’ as head coach, but as an Ajax defender he was present 19 times, winning 15, drawing twice and losing twice. Mario Been coached Feyenoord three times against Ajax, losing twice and drawing once.
This season, on 19 September, Ajax beat Feyenoord 2-1 in De Kuip. Siem de Jong and Mounir El Hamdaoui put Ajax in front and André Bahia scored the consolation goal for Feyenoord in the 80th minute.
FC Utrecht left the Europea League with the heads high at Liverpool on Wednesday, which must give them confidence for the last league match of 2010 at VVV Venlo on Sunday. Utrecht did not have a chance to qualify for the next round but the goalless draw was received as a good result in Utrecht. Bad note was Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who broke his collar bone at Anfield Road.
Van Wolfswinkel is not available for the match at VVV and the club top scorer is not the only one. Ton du Chatinier cannot field reserve goalkeeper Khalid Sinouh (hamstring), Alje Schut (illness), Frank Demouge (groin), Jacob Lensky (groin). Jacob Mulenga and Michael Zullo already were out for quite a while. The FC Utrecht coach added to youth players to his selection for the match at VVV: Attila Yildirim and goalkeeper Erik Cummins.
VVV are under pressure after a five match not winning streak. The second from bottom club collected ten points from their first 18 matches, which is six more than rock bottom Willem II but five less than number 16 Excelsior.
AZ said goodbye to Europe on a high note when they beat Belarussian BATE Borisov 3-0 in their finale Europa League match in Alkmaar. After finishing third in their group AZ now can fully focus on the Eredivisie again.
Coach Gertjan Verbeek did not take any chances with injured players against Borisov. Ragnar Klavan and Rasmus Elm will be fiot again, but Stijn Schaars is doubtful due to a knee injury.
NEC had troubles preparing for the fixture with AZ this week. Weather conditions in the east of the Netherlands were snowy and cold. “We could not train with a ball very much this week, so it was hard to keep the rhythm”, coach Wiljan Vloet said.
Fred Rutten hopes to hand Ibrahim Afellay a happy farewell in his last match for PSV. The PSV pedigree will move to FC Barcelona in the winter break and PSV will play his last home match against Roda JC of 2010 on Sunday. On Wednesday PSV will travel to Kerkrade to take on the same opponent in the national Cup tournament.
“With the support of the fans from the east side, I think we will hand Ibrahim a great farewell match”, the PSV coach said. Afellay played 158 league matches for the club that raised him. He won the league title in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and the Cup in 2005.
Roda JC have only won five times at PSV, but the visitors took away three points in four of the last seven League matches in Eindhoeven. This season Harm van Veldhoven’s team are doing well above expectations, having collected 32 points from their first 18 matches which is 17 more than last season at the same stage.
The Dutch ‘Klassieker’ has devaluated over the past years because Feyenoord were not able to live up to their standards as a traditional top three club in the Eredivisie. This year Ajax will try to show their revived spirit and attacking tradition under their newly appointed coach Frank de Boer, who won his first two matches at AC Milan (2-0) and Vitesse (1-0), while Feyenoord are struggling to keep out of relegation trouble.
On Saturday number three ranked FC Groningen visit Excelsior, who are struggling with only one win in their last 12 matches after three victories in the first six match rounds.
“This not just another match for us”, Hercales coach Peter Bosz said about the derby at FC Twente on Friday. At home Heracles drew 0-0 against the title holders, who want to set things straight after they were blown away 6-2 at sc Heerenveen last week.
Twente-trainer Michel Preud’homme has some injury problems to solve in his attacking line. Bryan Ruiz, who was also injured last week, will not return until after the winter break and centre forward Marc Janko suffers froma hamstring injury. Veteran stand-in Arnold Bruggink was ill last week and he did not train on Thursday. He may be fit to play however.
Bosz has less troubles, but he’ll have to fill in the gap of midfielder Marko Vejinovic, who is recovering from an intestinal infection. Defender Birger Maertens suffers from a groin injury.
Heerenveen are full of confidence after they crushed title holders FC Twente 6-2 last week with Oussama Assaidi scoring a hat-trick and handing to assists. Ron Jans’s team will take on injury struck De Graafschap on Saturday.
The ‘Superboeren’, who will have to do with injured captain Muslu Nalbantoglu for the rest of the season, will also have to do without injured Youssouf Hersi, Jordy Buijs and suspended Yuri Rose. Club top scorer Rydell Poepon is doubtful due to ankle troubles.
De Graafschap only won once in 11 previous Eredivisie matches at Heerenveen. At home they defeated 3-2 Heerenveen in an exciting match this season. Muslu Nalbantoglu and Rydell Poepon (2x) scored. The ‘Superboeren’ never beat Heerenveen twice in one Eredivisie season.
NAC Breda won their delayed Eredivisie match against at Excelsior 3-1 last Wednesday, but they lost Matthew Amoah. The club top scorer, who netted nine times this season, went of the pitch with a muscle injury and he will be out for at least a month.
Vitesse lost 1-0 at home against Ajax last week and coach Albert Ferrer saw that his team is far from playing dominantly in the desired FC Barcelona-style attacking 4-3-3 format. In terms of points average Vitesse performs hardly any better than under sacked coach Theo Bos, who collected 13 points from 14 matches this season. Ferrer grabbed four points from four matches.
NAC will try to maintain their top seven spot, which eventually would earn them a spot for the Europa League play-offs. Vitesse are still struggling to stay out of relegation trouble.
On Saturday number three ranked FC Groningen visit Excelsior, who are struggling with only one win in their last 12 matches after three victories in the first six match rounds.
Groningen come from a 2-0 win against AZ, a result that not really represented the balance of play on the pitch. Coach Pieter Huistra and his team were outplayed, but collected the three points to continue firmly take third place on the table. Against Excelsior they will miss Tim Sparv, who is suspended after a red card in the match against AZ.
Excelsior, who are ranked 16th, are not doing very well, having lost their delayed home match against NAC Breda 3-1 on Wednesday. The match against Groningen provides a chance to increase the gap with bottom two team VVV-Venlo and Willem II. Groningen collected most points at home and only won two away matches: at VVV and Willem II.
Willem II are on their way to break the record non winning Eredivisie streak in club history. With their 25th winless match last week, when they lost 3-1 at NEC, they equaled the record of 25, which was set twice (1966-1979 and 1983-1987).
If Willem II fail to win again, they will be without a win since 14 March 2010 and 18 matches into the season. RBC Roosendaal (2005/2006) and Dordrecht ‘90 (1994/1995) join the record worse start in Eredivisie history with 25 winless match rounds.
ADO are an opposite story. Under rookie coach John van den Brom they are playing their best season in 40 years up to the moment. ADO have 26 points from 18 matches, which is only four less than they collected last year in 34 matches.
The last match round before the winter break in the Eredivisie features the showcase match between Ajax and Feyenoord in Amsterdam. The Dutch ‘Klassieker’ has devaluated over the past years because Feyenoord were not able to live up to their standards as a traditional top three club in the Eredivisie. This year Ajax will try to show their revived spirit and attacking tradition under their newly appointed coach Frank de Boer, who won his first two matches at AC Milan (2-0) and Vitesse (1-0), while Feyenoord are struggling to keep out of relegation trouble.
In total Ajax and Feyenoord met 55 times in Amsterdam, with Ajax winning 29 times and Feyenoord 11 times. The home team won the last four editions of this match. The last Feyenoord victory came on 28 August 2005: 2-1. In home and away matches Ajax are undefeated nine times against their Rotterdam arch rivals and the last time Feyenoord managed to keep a clean sheet in Amsterdam was in 1978.
For Frank de Boer it will be his first ‘Klassieker’ as head coach, but as an Ajax defender he was present 19 times, winning 15, drawing twice and losing twice. Mario Been coached Feyenoord three times against Ajax, losing twice and drawing once.
This season, on 19 September, Ajax beat Feyenoord 2-1 in De Kuip. Siem de Jong and Mounir El Hamdaoui put Ajax in front and André Bahia scored the consolation goal for Feyenoord in the 80th minute.
FC Utrecht left the Europea League with the heads high at Liverpool on Wednesday, which must give them confidence for the last league match of 2010 at VVV Venlo on Sunday. Utrecht did not have a chance to qualify for the next round but the goalless draw was received as a good result in Utrecht. Bad note was Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who broke his collar bone at Anfield Road.
Van Wolfswinkel is not available for the match at VVV and the club top scorer is not the only one. Ton du Chatinier cannot field reserve goalkeeper Khalid Sinouh (hamstring), Alje Schut (illness), Frank Demouge (groin), Jacob Lensky (groin). Jacob Mulenga and Michael Zullo already were out for quite a while. The FC Utrecht coach added to youth players to his selection for the match at VVV: Attila Yildirim and goalkeeper Erik Cummins.
VVV are under pressure after a five match not winning streak. The second from bottom club collected ten points from their first 18 matches, which is six more than rock bottom Willem II but five less than number 16 Excelsior.
AZ said goodbye to Europe on a high note when they beat Belarussian BATE Borisov 3-0 in their finale Europa League match in Alkmaar. After finishing third in their group AZ now can fully focus on the Eredivisie again.
Coach Gertjan Verbeek did not take any chances with injured players against Borisov. Ragnar Klavan and Rasmus Elm will be fiot again, but Stijn Schaars is doubtful due to a knee injury.
NEC had troubles preparing for the fixture with AZ this week. Weather conditions in the east of the Netherlands were snowy and cold. “We could not train with a ball very much this week, so it was hard to keep the rhythm”, coach Wiljan Vloet said.
Fred Rutten hopes to hand Ibrahim Afellay a happy farewell in his last match for PSV. The PSV pedigree will move to FC Barcelona in the winter break and PSV will play his last home match against Roda JC of 2010 on Sunday. On Wednesday PSV will travel to Kerkrade to take on the same opponent in the national Cup tournament.
“With the support of the fans from the east side, I think we will hand Ibrahim a great farewell match”, the PSV coach said. Afellay played 158 league matches for the club that raised him. He won the league title in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and the Cup in 2005.
Roda JC have only won five times at PSV, but the visitors took away three points in four of the last seven League matches in Eindhoeven. This season Harm van Veldhoven’s team are doing well above expectations, having collected 32 points from their first 18 matches which is 17 more than last season at the same stage.
