Twente will start an Eredivisie match as league leaders for the first time this season when the title holders take on Excelsior at home on Saturday. Ajax meets injury-struck ADO Den Haag in Amsterdam.
Theo Janssen may be back in the FC Twente squad in their home match against Excelsior. De ‘Tukkers’ managed to grab their first Champions League victory at Werder Bremen on Tuesday without Janssen and his fellow midfielder Wout Brama, who also may return this Saturday.
Bottom ranked Willem II will take on VVV-Venlo, who are second from bottom. The ‘Tricolores’ are the only Eredivisie club yet to grab a League win this season. VVV-coach Jan van Dijk got a clear warning from club chairman Hai Berden and is fighting to secure his job.
Ajax will have to regroup after their disappointing 2-1 Champions League defeat at AJ Auxerre on Wednesday, when they play ADO Den Haag at home and PSV, who lost the Eredivisie Lead when they were defeated 1-0 at home by FC Twente last week, will try to bounce back in their away match at FC Utrecht.
Bottom ranked Willem II have not yet won a single match this Eredivisie season and the Tilburg based club are in desperate need of a win against VVV-Venlo, who are ranked second last.
Last week Willem II grabbed their second point of the season with a 2-2 draw at fifth ranked Roda JC. Coach Gert Heerkens drew confidence from that match: “We were equal to a top five club and the next five matches we will play against clubs from the bottom half of the ranking. That’s where we have to grab our points”.
VVV is on a five match losing streak and the club did not score a single goal in their last three away matches. Chairman Hai Berden put the pressure on trainer Jan van Dijk last week. A loss at Willem II might be the end of Van Dijk as head coach in Venlo.
FC Twente are on top of the League for the first time since the last matchday of the Eredivisie last season. The title holders are the only undefeated team in the Eredivisie this season and they beat top ranked PSV 1-0 in an away match last weekend. On Tuesday Twente again showed great form when they defeated Werder Bremen 2-0 away from home in the Champions League.
The win against Werder was remarkable not only because it was Twente’s first Champions League victory in club history, but also because the team played without midfield duo Wout Brama and Theo Janssen. The injured Dutch internationals are doubtful for the Excelsior match this weekend. Against Bremen Denny Landzaat en Roberto Rosales played as defensive midfielders to replace Janssen and Brama. Nacer Chadli and Luuk de Jong scored the Twente goals.
Excelsior lost their last two Eredivisie matches without scoring a single goal, but the club managed a 2-2 draw at home against Ajax before that. Historically Twente have not much to fear when Excelsior come to visit. The club won ten of the previous 15 Eredivisie encounters at home against the Rotterdam squad and only lost twice. The last Excelsior victory in Enschede came on 9 April 1983 (0-2).
The home match of sc Heerenveen against Heracles Almelo is a special one for Bas Dost. Last season he scored for Heracles in the 2-1 win of the Almelo based club at Heerenveen. The striker moved to Heerenveen this summer and after a difficult start at his new club he bounced back scoring six of the last ten Heerenveen goals.
Heerenveen is doing well at home this season, being undefeated in their last five matches in the Abe Lenstra Stadium. Their recent record against Heracles is not so good however. Heerenveen did not manage to win in their last five matches (home and away) versus the black and white outfit from Almelo.
Heracles seems to have difficulties playing on natural turf this season. Coach Peter Bosz’ team has not yet won an away match, while they already grabbed three victories on their own artificial turf.
FC Groningen seems to be unbeatable at home this season. The club won its last five Eredivisie matches in the Euroborg Stadium and drew their first home encounter of this season 2-2 against Ajax. However, this weekend’s visitors NAC Breda defeated Groningen in the Euroborg Stadium 2-1 last season.
Groningen come from a 5-3 away win at VVV-Venlo last weekend. Defender Andreas Granqvist and striker Tim Matavz are Groningen’s top scorers, but coach Pieter Huistra does not depend only on them to score goals. Ten different players already hit the target for Groningen this season.
NAC are not in great form at the moment. The Breda based squad grabbed a hard fought 2-0 win against De Graafschap last weekend, but lost the previous three matches. Away from home NAC have not yet won a single match out of five this season.
De Graafschap lost 2-0 at NAC Breda last week, but the club will look ahead confidently to the home match against NEC on Saturday. The ‘Superboeren’ only lost one of six home matches this season and they grabbed a surprising 2-1 win against AZ in their last home match.
De Graafschap will pay special attention to NEC’s Lasse Schöne. The skilful Danish midfielder played for the ‘Superboeren’ before he changed to the Red, Black and Green of Nijmegen. For De Graafschap’s Youssouf Hersi it’s the other way around. He played two seasons for NEC in the past.
Last weekend NEC draw 0-0 against arch rivals Vitesse. Coach Wiljan Vloet and his assistant Patrick Kluivert will be counting on Björn Vleminckx in Doetinchem. The Belgian striker scored all of the last four NEC goals. With a total of eight goals this season he already equaled his total amount of last season.
Ajax had to recover quickly from the disappointing 2-1 Champions League defeat at AJ Auxerre on Wednesday to prepare for their Eredivisie home match against ADO Den Haag, who with 18 points from 12 matches are having their best season start since the 1990/1991 season.
From a historic perspective Ajax seem to have an easy job on Sunday. The Amsterdam based club won 29 of the previous 36 home encounters with ADO Den Haag and lost only twice. Ajax won the last three home matches against ADO with a total goal difference of 8-0.
Mounir El Hamdaoui, who scored 10 times in Ajax’ last 11 matches is aiming to strengthen his lead as Eredivisie top scorer. He is on 11 goals from 12 Eredivisie matches, one more than FC Utrecht’s Ricky van Wolfswinkel and three more than ADO’s Dmitri Bulykin.
Bulykin is doubtful for the match against Ajax. The Russian striker injured his hamstring while scoring against FC Twente two weeks ago. ADO coach John van den Brom has more injury problems and will have to do without forward Frantisek Kubik. Striker Wesley Verhoek and defenders Christiaan Kum and Achmed Ammi are doubtful.
FC Utrecht and PSV both have to regroup after a disappointing defeat last weekend. PSV lost the league lead when they got beaten 1-0 by FC Twente at home and Utrecht had an off-day losing 1-0 at ADO Den Haag. Last season PSV drew 0-0 at FC Utrecht.
Utrecht have a bad recent home record against PSV. Their only win in the last 17 editions came on 2 March 2008: 3-1. On Sunday coach Ton du Chatinier will count on Ricky van Wolfswinkel to score. The prolific striker is the first FC Utrecht player to have scored 10 goals from the first 12 Eredivisie matches in 35 years.
Of all PSV strikers the Utrecht defense fears Danny Koevermans most. He scored a total of six goals in eight Eredivisie matches against the ‘Domstedelingen’. Chances on Koevermans being in the starting lineup are slim however. The striker only played seven matches of which he came on as a substitute five times this season. Utrecht born PSV midfielder Ibrahim Afellay scored four times in ten matches against Utrecht, but the real man to watch is Balázs Dzsudzsák, who is PSV’s Most Valuable Player with 5 goals and ten assists this season.
Central defender Ron Vlaar will make his comeback in the home match against Roda JC on Sunday. The return of the captain, who was injured since September, may hand the Rotterdam based club renewed confidence. After their devastating 10-0 loss at PSV two weeks ago, coach Mario Been’s squad won 3-0 at home against VVV-Venlo and lost 2-1 at AZ Alkmaar.
Roda will be a tough nut to crack for Feyenoord. Coach Harm van Veldhoven’s team is undefeated in its last nine Eredivisie matches and the squad is better in away matches than at home. With the exception of FC Twente, Roda grabbed most points (13) in away matches from all Eredivisie clubs this season. Together with FC Twente and Willem II Roda are the only club to have more points from away matches than from home matches.
Another reason for Feyenoord to fear Roda is the memory of their encounter in the third round of the ‘KNVB Beker’ in Feyenoord’s own ‘Kuip’ earlier this season. The visitors kicked Feyenoord out of the National Cup Tournament on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Leroy Fer missed a penalty in extra time and Luigi Bruins, Kelvin Leerdam and Ruben Schaken missed in the shootout.
Newly appointed Vitesse coach Albert Ferrer will not start his job at Vitesse before 15 November, but his influence will probably be seen this Sunday already.
Together with sc Heerenveen and VVV-Venlo Vitesse were the only Eredivisie outfit playing without the players’ names on the back of their shirt. This week the club announced to change this. Ferrer wants the players names on the back of their shirts because that will give the club a more professional look. However, Vitesse was not sure whether the new shirts would be ready before Sunday’s match against AZ.
AZ’s Graziano Pellè sure hopes that his coach has read the name on the back of his shirt clearly. The Italian striker came on as a substitute in three of AZ’s last four Eredivisie matches and scored in all three matches. Whether this will be a reason for coach Gertjan Verbeek to give Pellè a chance in the starting lineup remains to be seen.
Bottom ranked Willem II will take on VVV-Venlo, who are second from bottom. The ‘Tricolores’ are the only Eredivisie club yet to grab a League win this season. VVV-coach Jan van Dijk got a clear warning from club chairman Hai Berden and is fighting to secure his job.
Ajax will have to regroup after their disappointing 2-1 Champions League defeat at AJ Auxerre on Wednesday, when they play ADO Den Haag at home and PSV, who lost the Eredivisie Lead when they were defeated 1-0 at home by FC Twente last week, will try to bounce back in their away match at FC Utrecht.
Bottom ranked Willem II have not yet won a single match this Eredivisie season and the Tilburg based club are in desperate need of a win against VVV-Venlo, who are ranked second last.
Last week Willem II grabbed their second point of the season with a 2-2 draw at fifth ranked Roda JC. Coach Gert Heerkens drew confidence from that match: “We were equal to a top five club and the next five matches we will play against clubs from the bottom half of the ranking. That’s where we have to grab our points”.
VVV is on a five match losing streak and the club did not score a single goal in their last three away matches. Chairman Hai Berden put the pressure on trainer Jan van Dijk last week. A loss at Willem II might be the end of Van Dijk as head coach in Venlo.
FC Twente are on top of the League for the first time since the last matchday of the Eredivisie last season. The title holders are the only undefeated team in the Eredivisie this season and they beat top ranked PSV 1-0 in an away match last weekend. On Tuesday Twente again showed great form when they defeated Werder Bremen 2-0 away from home in the Champions League.
The win against Werder was remarkable not only because it was Twente’s first Champions League victory in club history, but also because the team played without midfield duo Wout Brama and Theo Janssen. The injured Dutch internationals are doubtful for the Excelsior match this weekend. Against Bremen Denny Landzaat en Roberto Rosales played as defensive midfielders to replace Janssen and Brama. Nacer Chadli and Luuk de Jong scored the Twente goals.
Excelsior lost their last two Eredivisie matches without scoring a single goal, but the club managed a 2-2 draw at home against Ajax before that. Historically Twente have not much to fear when Excelsior come to visit. The club won ten of the previous 15 Eredivisie encounters at home against the Rotterdam squad and only lost twice. The last Excelsior victory in Enschede came on 9 April 1983 (0-2).
The home match of sc Heerenveen against Heracles Almelo is a special one for Bas Dost. Last season he scored for Heracles in the 2-1 win of the Almelo based club at Heerenveen. The striker moved to Heerenveen this summer and after a difficult start at his new club he bounced back scoring six of the last ten Heerenveen goals.
Heerenveen is doing well at home this season, being undefeated in their last five matches in the Abe Lenstra Stadium. Their recent record against Heracles is not so good however. Heerenveen did not manage to win in their last five matches (home and away) versus the black and white outfit from Almelo.
Heracles seems to have difficulties playing on natural turf this season. Coach Peter Bosz’ team has not yet won an away match, while they already grabbed three victories on their own artificial turf.
FC Groningen seems to be unbeatable at home this season. The club won its last five Eredivisie matches in the Euroborg Stadium and drew their first home encounter of this season 2-2 against Ajax. However, this weekend’s visitors NAC Breda defeated Groningen in the Euroborg Stadium 2-1 last season.
Groningen come from a 5-3 away win at VVV-Venlo last weekend. Defender Andreas Granqvist and striker Tim Matavz are Groningen’s top scorers, but coach Pieter Huistra does not depend only on them to score goals. Ten different players already hit the target for Groningen this season.
NAC are not in great form at the moment. The Breda based squad grabbed a hard fought 2-0 win against De Graafschap last weekend, but lost the previous three matches. Away from home NAC have not yet won a single match out of five this season.
De Graafschap lost 2-0 at NAC Breda last week, but the club will look ahead confidently to the home match against NEC on Saturday. The ‘Superboeren’ only lost one of six home matches this season and they grabbed a surprising 2-1 win against AZ in their last home match.
De Graafschap will pay special attention to NEC’s Lasse Schöne. The skilful Danish midfielder played for the ‘Superboeren’ before he changed to the Red, Black and Green of Nijmegen. For De Graafschap’s Youssouf Hersi it’s the other way around. He played two seasons for NEC in the past.
Last weekend NEC draw 0-0 against arch rivals Vitesse. Coach Wiljan Vloet and his assistant Patrick Kluivert will be counting on Björn Vleminckx in Doetinchem. The Belgian striker scored all of the last four NEC goals. With a total of eight goals this season he already equaled his total amount of last season.
Ajax had to recover quickly from the disappointing 2-1 Champions League defeat at AJ Auxerre on Wednesday to prepare for their Eredivisie home match against ADO Den Haag, who with 18 points from 12 matches are having their best season start since the 1990/1991 season.
From a historic perspective Ajax seem to have an easy job on Sunday. The Amsterdam based club won 29 of the previous 36 home encounters with ADO Den Haag and lost only twice. Ajax won the last three home matches against ADO with a total goal difference of 8-0.
Mounir El Hamdaoui, who scored 10 times in Ajax’ last 11 matches is aiming to strengthen his lead as Eredivisie top scorer. He is on 11 goals from 12 Eredivisie matches, one more than FC Utrecht’s Ricky van Wolfswinkel and three more than ADO’s Dmitri Bulykin.
Bulykin is doubtful for the match against Ajax. The Russian striker injured his hamstring while scoring against FC Twente two weeks ago. ADO coach John van den Brom has more injury problems and will have to do without forward Frantisek Kubik. Striker Wesley Verhoek and defenders Christiaan Kum and Achmed Ammi are doubtful.
FC Utrecht and PSV both have to regroup after a disappointing defeat last weekend. PSV lost the league lead when they got beaten 1-0 by FC Twente at home and Utrecht had an off-day losing 1-0 at ADO Den Haag. Last season PSV drew 0-0 at FC Utrecht.
Utrecht have a bad recent home record against PSV. Their only win in the last 17 editions came on 2 March 2008: 3-1. On Sunday coach Ton du Chatinier will count on Ricky van Wolfswinkel to score. The prolific striker is the first FC Utrecht player to have scored 10 goals from the first 12 Eredivisie matches in 35 years.
Of all PSV strikers the Utrecht defense fears Danny Koevermans most. He scored a total of six goals in eight Eredivisie matches against the ‘Domstedelingen’. Chances on Koevermans being in the starting lineup are slim however. The striker only played seven matches of which he came on as a substitute five times this season. Utrecht born PSV midfielder Ibrahim Afellay scored four times in ten matches against Utrecht, but the real man to watch is Balázs Dzsudzsák, who is PSV’s Most Valuable Player with 5 goals and ten assists this season.
Central defender Ron Vlaar will make his comeback in the home match against Roda JC on Sunday. The return of the captain, who was injured since September, may hand the Rotterdam based club renewed confidence. After their devastating 10-0 loss at PSV two weeks ago, coach Mario Been’s squad won 3-0 at home against VVV-Venlo and lost 2-1 at AZ Alkmaar.
Roda will be a tough nut to crack for Feyenoord. Coach Harm van Veldhoven’s team is undefeated in its last nine Eredivisie matches and the squad is better in away matches than at home. With the exception of FC Twente, Roda grabbed most points (13) in away matches from all Eredivisie clubs this season. Together with FC Twente and Willem II Roda are the only club to have more points from away matches than from home matches.
Another reason for Feyenoord to fear Roda is the memory of their encounter in the third round of the ‘KNVB Beker’ in Feyenoord’s own ‘Kuip’ earlier this season. The visitors kicked Feyenoord out of the National Cup Tournament on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Leroy Fer missed a penalty in extra time and Luigi Bruins, Kelvin Leerdam and Ruben Schaken missed in the shootout.
Newly appointed Vitesse coach Albert Ferrer will not start his job at Vitesse before 15 November, but his influence will probably be seen this Sunday already.
Together with sc Heerenveen and VVV-Venlo Vitesse were the only Eredivisie outfit playing without the players’ names on the back of their shirt. This week the club announced to change this. Ferrer wants the players names on the back of their shirts because that will give the club a more professional look. However, Vitesse was not sure whether the new shirts would be ready before Sunday’s match against AZ.
AZ’s Graziano Pellè sure hopes that his coach has read the name on the back of his shirt clearly. The Italian striker came on as a substitute in three of AZ’s last four Eredivisie matches and scored in all three matches. Whether this will be a reason for coach Gertjan Verbeek to give Pellè a chance in the starting lineup remains to be seen.
