Ajax have not given up on the title yet and on Sunday the Amsterdam outfit plays another crucial match to stay in contention.
PSV and Twente will play a string of matches handicapped because of suspensions and number three ranked Ajax therefore still hopes to win the championship in the end. PSV will have to do without striker Ola Toivonen, who hit Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen in the face and Twente will miss defender Douglas, who went berserk after a red card in the 2-1 loss against AZ last week.
Ajax will play AZ on Sunday, another crucial match for Frank de Boer’s squad, who qualified for the Dutch Cup final with a convincing 5-1 win over first division club RKC Waalwijk on Thursday.
De Graafschap come from a surprising 1-1 draw at Roda JC and with an win at home against Willem II, the Superboeren could take a big step towards safety above the relegation zone. Coach Darije Kalezic has some injury trouble to cope with however.
With Rogier Meijer suspended and Youssouf Hersi (knee) and Peter Jungschläger (groin) injured De Graafschap will miss three regulars on their midfield. Striker Rydell Poepon is available. The forward, played at Willem II before, is De Graafschap’s top scorer of the season with 9 goals.
Willem II travel to Doetinchem with confidence. The bottom club defeated sc Heerenveen 4-3 after they were 2-0 down at half time. On the negative side: Willem II did win in the weekend of Carnival, which is widely celebrated in the south of the Netherlands and completely ignored in the north.
FC Twente lost to 2-1 AZ last week and the title holders seem to be in trouble. The title holders qualified for the Dutch Cup final when they beat FC Utrecht 1-0 on Wednesday, but that was by no means a confident victory.
Twente will have to do without Douglas for a while. Referee Ruud Bossen handed him a red card for hitting Pontus Wernbloom in the match against AZ. The Brazilian defender went berserk after being shown red and had to be pulled of the pitch by reserve goalkeeper Sander Boschker. Douglas will be suspended for six games, thus reducing Twente’s title chances severely. Not only will he miss the matches versus NAC, VVV-Venlo and Excelsior, but he will also be out for the top matches against the current league leaders PSV and number seven Roda JC Kerkrade.
NAC Breda for their part defeated ADO Den Haag 3-2 last weekend to grab their first points since the 2-2 draw against NEC on 22 January. With only four points after the winter break NAC are joint worst in the Eredivisie together with sc Heerenveen in 2011. Against Twente NAC will play without Leonardo. The striker was left out of the squad after an interview with a sports magazine in which he criticized club icon Pierre van Hooijdonk.
Vitesse were crushed 6-1 at Heracles Almelo last week. Coach Albert Ferrer has not yet been able to build a team from all the new players which owner Merab Jordania bought. Ferrer hopes for a change on Saturday, when midfielders Ismail Aissati and Nemanja Matic return to action after having been suspended.
A win would give VVV-Venlo a big boost in their battle against relegation. The team lost 19 matches this season, which is even one more than bottom ranked Willem II. Since the winter break VVV grabbed six points, and Willem II seven. The gap between both clubs is five points.
At home VVV lost 5-1 to Vitesse this season. Wiljan Pluim, Julian Jenner, Marcus Pedersen (2x) and Ismail Aissati hit the target for the visitors and Ruud Boymans converted a spot kick for the home team.
ADO lost 3-2 at NAC Breda last week and on Saturday they will take on NEC in The Hague. The red-black-green brigade only lost one of their last eleven matches in the Eredivisie against ADO.
NEC have the longest unbeaten streak in the Eredivisie at the moment. Coach Wiljan Vloets team did not lose in nine matches after their 4-2 loss against title holders FC Twente on 27 November 2010.
ADO-NEC is a match of goal getters. ADO striker Dmitri Bulykin is second on the top scorers list this season with 16 goals in 21 matches and NEC forward Björn Vleminckx is on top of that list with 17 goals from 24 matches.
PSV managed to stay on top of the league with a goalless draw at home against number three Ajax last week, but the league leaders lost Ola Toivonen. The Swedish striker was suspended, when TV-footage showed him hitting Ajax-defender Jan Vertonghen.
Sixteenth ranked Excelsior come from a 1-0 loss in their relegation battle versus VVV Venlo. The Rotterdam squad won twice in fifteen previous home encounters against PSV in the Eredivisie. Their last victory came in 1985 (2-0).
This season PSV defeated Excelsior 4-2 in Eindhoven. Daan Bovenberg put the visitors 1-0 up after six minutes, but Jeremain Lens (19'), Wilfred Bouma (34'), Ola Toivonen (50') and Marcelo (78') scored for the home team. Guyon Fernandez (70') netted the second Excelsior goal.
FC Groningen seemed to be title contenders a couple of weeks ago, but that’s over now. Pieter Huistra’s team did not manage to win its last three matches and lost its last two games in which it conceded nine goals and only scored two. Last week they were hammered 5-0 by Feyenoord in De Kuip and the week before they lost 4-1 at home against Roda JC Kerkrade.
The home loss was exceptional. Groningen has won ten out of 13 home matches this season, the best home record together with PSV this season. At Heracles Groningen lost 3-0 this season. Samuel Armenteros, Everton and Mark Looms scored.
Heracles are in a good mood after their 6-1 win at home against Vitesse last week. Their away record is less impressive. Heracles set a 17 match winless streak since their 2-1 victory over sc Heerenveen 27 february 2010 last season.
FC Utrecht lost the semifinal in the Dutch Cup against FC Twente 1-0 on Wednesday, but they gave it a good fight. Ton du Chatinier may encounter some defensive problems. Ismo Vorstermans and Alje Schut are questionable. Tim Cornelisse, who received a red card in the Cup match against Twente, is available for the league match versus Roda.
Number seven Roda have a three point advantage over number eight Utrecht on the table. This match therefore is important in the battle for Europa League tickets. The seventh spot on the table guarantees a spot in the play-offs.
FC Utrecht are on route to a new club record. The equaled the record streak of draws with their fifth consecutive draw last week. In Kerkrade Utrecht and Roda also drew. Ruud Vormer scored 1-0 and Edouard Duplan equalized from the rebound after Dries Mertens missed a spot-kick.
Feyenoord hammered FC Groningen 5-1 last week in a match that helped to build much needed confidence in Rotterdam. “We shouldn’t be euphoric, but this win really did something to this team”, Mario Been said. The coach will field the same starting lineup at Heerenveen on Sunday.
Winning at home is one thing, but winning an away match is another. Feyenoord did not manage to win in its last 16 away matches and will equal the club record winless away streak if they don’t grab three points in Friesland.
Heerenveen lost 4-3 against bottom ranked Willem II last week and Ron Jans’ squad has only four points from six matches in 2011, leaving only NAC Breda behind on the 2011 ranking. Earlier this season the match versus Feyenoord in Rotterdam ended in a 2-2 draw.
Ajax confidently defeated first division club RKC Waalwijk to qualify for the Dutch Cup final on Thursday, but coach Frank de Boer is still in stormy weather. He substituted Mounir El Hamdaoui after 45 minutes on Thursday, which led to another argument with the former AZ striker. On Friday De Boer threw the forward out of the squad ahead of the home match against his former club. The coach told the press that El Hamdaoui’s reaction after being substituted had been intolerable. The striker said that he did not know what De Boer was talking about.
Siem de Jong will probably be Ajax’ striker again on Sunday. He scored twice against RKC on Thursday. Maarten Stekelenburg will be back in the goal against AZ. He was replaced by Jeroen Verhoeven in the Cup match because of a light groin injury.
AZ defeated Ajax 2-0 at home in the league, but they lost the Cup quarter final 1-0 in Amsterdam. Kolbeinn Sigthórsson is joint top scorer of 2011 together with Twente’s Marc Janko. However the AZ striker only scored one of his ten goals this season in an away match.
Ajax will play AZ on Sunday, another crucial match for Frank de Boer’s squad, who qualified for the Dutch Cup final with a convincing 5-1 win over first division club RKC Waalwijk on Thursday.
De Graafschap come from a surprising 1-1 draw at Roda JC and with an win at home against Willem II, the Superboeren could take a big step towards safety above the relegation zone. Coach Darije Kalezic has some injury trouble to cope with however.
With Rogier Meijer suspended and Youssouf Hersi (knee) and Peter Jungschläger (groin) injured De Graafschap will miss three regulars on their midfield. Striker Rydell Poepon is available. The forward, played at Willem II before, is De Graafschap’s top scorer of the season with 9 goals.
Willem II travel to Doetinchem with confidence. The bottom club defeated sc Heerenveen 4-3 after they were 2-0 down at half time. On the negative side: Willem II did win in the weekend of Carnival, which is widely celebrated in the south of the Netherlands and completely ignored in the north.
FC Twente lost to 2-1 AZ last week and the title holders seem to be in trouble. The title holders qualified for the Dutch Cup final when they beat FC Utrecht 1-0 on Wednesday, but that was by no means a confident victory.
Twente will have to do without Douglas for a while. Referee Ruud Bossen handed him a red card for hitting Pontus Wernbloom in the match against AZ. The Brazilian defender went berserk after being shown red and had to be pulled of the pitch by reserve goalkeeper Sander Boschker. Douglas will be suspended for six games, thus reducing Twente’s title chances severely. Not only will he miss the matches versus NAC, VVV-Venlo and Excelsior, but he will also be out for the top matches against the current league leaders PSV and number seven Roda JC Kerkrade.
NAC Breda for their part defeated ADO Den Haag 3-2 last weekend to grab their first points since the 2-2 draw against NEC on 22 January. With only four points after the winter break NAC are joint worst in the Eredivisie together with sc Heerenveen in 2011. Against Twente NAC will play without Leonardo. The striker was left out of the squad after an interview with a sports magazine in which he criticized club icon Pierre van Hooijdonk.
Vitesse were crushed 6-1 at Heracles Almelo last week. Coach Albert Ferrer has not yet been able to build a team from all the new players which owner Merab Jordania bought. Ferrer hopes for a change on Saturday, when midfielders Ismail Aissati and Nemanja Matic return to action after having been suspended.
A win would give VVV-Venlo a big boost in their battle against relegation. The team lost 19 matches this season, which is even one more than bottom ranked Willem II. Since the winter break VVV grabbed six points, and Willem II seven. The gap between both clubs is five points.
At home VVV lost 5-1 to Vitesse this season. Wiljan Pluim, Julian Jenner, Marcus Pedersen (2x) and Ismail Aissati hit the target for the visitors and Ruud Boymans converted a spot kick for the home team.
ADO lost 3-2 at NAC Breda last week and on Saturday they will take on NEC in The Hague. The red-black-green brigade only lost one of their last eleven matches in the Eredivisie against ADO.
NEC have the longest unbeaten streak in the Eredivisie at the moment. Coach Wiljan Vloets team did not lose in nine matches after their 4-2 loss against title holders FC Twente on 27 November 2010.
ADO-NEC is a match of goal getters. ADO striker Dmitri Bulykin is second on the top scorers list this season with 16 goals in 21 matches and NEC forward Björn Vleminckx is on top of that list with 17 goals from 24 matches.
PSV managed to stay on top of the league with a goalless draw at home against number three Ajax last week, but the league leaders lost Ola Toivonen. The Swedish striker was suspended, when TV-footage showed him hitting Ajax-defender Jan Vertonghen.
Sixteenth ranked Excelsior come from a 1-0 loss in their relegation battle versus VVV Venlo. The Rotterdam squad won twice in fifteen previous home encounters against PSV in the Eredivisie. Their last victory came in 1985 (2-0).
This season PSV defeated Excelsior 4-2 in Eindhoven. Daan Bovenberg put the visitors 1-0 up after six minutes, but Jeremain Lens (19'), Wilfred Bouma (34'), Ola Toivonen (50') and Marcelo (78') scored for the home team. Guyon Fernandez (70') netted the second Excelsior goal.
FC Groningen seemed to be title contenders a couple of weeks ago, but that’s over now. Pieter Huistra’s team did not manage to win its last three matches and lost its last two games in which it conceded nine goals and only scored two. Last week they were hammered 5-0 by Feyenoord in De Kuip and the week before they lost 4-1 at home against Roda JC Kerkrade.
The home loss was exceptional. Groningen has won ten out of 13 home matches this season, the best home record together with PSV this season. At Heracles Groningen lost 3-0 this season. Samuel Armenteros, Everton and Mark Looms scored.
Heracles are in a good mood after their 6-1 win at home against Vitesse last week. Their away record is less impressive. Heracles set a 17 match winless streak since their 2-1 victory over sc Heerenveen 27 february 2010 last season.
FC Utrecht lost the semifinal in the Dutch Cup against FC Twente 1-0 on Wednesday, but they gave it a good fight. Ton du Chatinier may encounter some defensive problems. Ismo Vorstermans and Alje Schut are questionable. Tim Cornelisse, who received a red card in the Cup match against Twente, is available for the league match versus Roda.
Number seven Roda have a three point advantage over number eight Utrecht on the table. This match therefore is important in the battle for Europa League tickets. The seventh spot on the table guarantees a spot in the play-offs.
FC Utrecht are on route to a new club record. The equaled the record streak of draws with their fifth consecutive draw last week. In Kerkrade Utrecht and Roda also drew. Ruud Vormer scored 1-0 and Edouard Duplan equalized from the rebound after Dries Mertens missed a spot-kick.
Feyenoord hammered FC Groningen 5-1 last week in a match that helped to build much needed confidence in Rotterdam. “We shouldn’t be euphoric, but this win really did something to this team”, Mario Been said. The coach will field the same starting lineup at Heerenveen on Sunday.
Winning at home is one thing, but winning an away match is another. Feyenoord did not manage to win in its last 16 away matches and will equal the club record winless away streak if they don’t grab three points in Friesland.
Heerenveen lost 4-3 against bottom ranked Willem II last week and Ron Jans’ squad has only four points from six matches in 2011, leaving only NAC Breda behind on the 2011 ranking. Earlier this season the match versus Feyenoord in Rotterdam ended in a 2-2 draw.
Ajax confidently defeated first division club RKC Waalwijk to qualify for the Dutch Cup final on Thursday, but coach Frank de Boer is still in stormy weather. He substituted Mounir El Hamdaoui after 45 minutes on Thursday, which led to another argument with the former AZ striker. On Friday De Boer threw the forward out of the squad ahead of the home match against his former club. The coach told the press that El Hamdaoui’s reaction after being substituted had been intolerable. The striker said that he did not know what De Boer was talking about.
Siem de Jong will probably be Ajax’ striker again on Sunday. He scored twice against RKC on Thursday. Maarten Stekelenburg will be back in the goal against AZ. He was replaced by Jeroen Verhoeven in the Cup match because of a light groin injury.
AZ defeated Ajax 2-0 at home in the league, but they lost the Cup quarter final 1-0 in Amsterdam. Kolbeinn Sigthórsson is joint top scorer of 2011 together with Twente’s Marc Janko. However the AZ striker only scored one of his ten goals this season in an away match.
