After FC Twente and PSV drew last week, Ajax are in title contention again. With only four matches to go the top three clubs in the Eredivisie are within a three point distance.
FC Twente are still league leaders in the Eredivisie, but after their 1-1 draw at home against Roda JC last week, the title holders are less secure of regaining the championship with four match round to go. On Thursday they lost 3-1 to Villarreal in the Europa League and the away match against De Graafschap will provide a good opportunity to regain self confidence.
PSV are second on the table, but theoretically in a sound position to win the title because League leaders FC Twente visit number three Ajax on the last matchday. The Eindhoven club, who visit Heracles Almelo this weekend, are two points behind. If PSV and Twente end up equal in points it’s the goal difference that counts and in that respect PSV are way better than both Twente and Ajax.
Ajax for their part will have to win four matches, wait and see PSV drop at least two points in the last four match rounds. The first of Ajax’ four finals is away at NEC.
“The players must be aware that at this moment nothing is more important than FC Utrecht. They the expectations”, Utrecht-coach Ton du Chatinier said about the match against sc Heerenveen on Friday. UItrecht lost its last three league matches and they fear to lose sight on a play-off sport for Europa League tickets.
Utrecht are handicapped, playing without the injured Mark van der Maarel, Ismo Vorstermans, Leon de Kogel and Jacob Mulenga, who also missed last week’s 4-0 loss against Feyenoord. Edouard Duplan will also be out for Friday’s game against Heerenveen and Kevin Strootman’s availability is questionable.
Sc Heerenveen just hope to finish the disappointing first season with Ron Jans on the bench on a high note. The ‘Friezen’ are on a seven match non-winning streak and they also lost their away match at FC Utrecht this season (2-1). Jan Wuytens scored the winner in injury time.
Vitesse come from a 1-0 loss at ADO Den Haag. At home the Arnhem team hope to keep their undefeated streak in 2011 alive. Despite Vitesse not having lost at home since 12 Demember last year, the home crowd doesn’t get too excited. With only 60 percent of the seats filled at the Gelredome Vitesse attract the smallest relative crowd on average in the Eredivisie. Groningen have an average of 97 percent of their tickets sold for home matches.
Groningen lost their away match at Ajax 2-0 last week and the northerners, who dropped from fourth place to sixth in a couple of weeks, hope to rebound in the last four matches to end up fourth.
Earlier this season in Groningen the home team humiliated Vitesse 4-1. It was Albert Ferrer’s third match a Vitesse-coach.
Excelsior did not manage to beat De Graafschap last week and Alex Pastoor’s face a tough job to avoid relegation play-off in the last four matches of the regular season. The coach himself is pretty sure to stay in the Dutch top-flight having signed at NEC next season.
If Excelsior end up in the relegation play-offs it will be the 16th time they play in the ‘nacompetitie’. Last season the club promoted after winning the play-offs.
Earlier this season NAC beat Excelsior 3-1 at Woudestein. Matthew Amoah (39’), Robbert Schilder (75’) and Ali Boussaboun (90+2’) scored for NAC and Tim Vincken (84’) hit the target for the home team.
It the South of Limburg against the North of Limburg in Kerkrade on Saturday. Southerners Roda are in contention for a spot in the Europa League play-offs, while their Northern neighbors are struggling second from bottom.
VVV-Venlo never managed to win an Eredivisie match in Kerkrade. Roda won eight of the previous eleven top flight games and the match ended in a draw three times. In home and away matches Roda is on a 16 match undefeated streak against VVV.
Earlier this season Roda hammered VVV 4-0 in Venlo. Willem Janssen (3’), Laurent Delorge (22’) and Mads Junker (30’, 80’) scored. Coach Jan van Dijk was fired five days later.
AZ and ADO will have a fight for fourth place on Saturday. The visitors are the currect number four, but number five AZ are only one point away. Earlier this season AZ managed to beat ADO 2-0 in The Hague, with Rasmus Elm and Maarten Martens scoring the goals.
The last ADO win in Alkmaar came in 2004, when AZ was defeated by an own goal of Jan Kromkamp. In total ADO only won two of their 22 Eredivisie visit’s to Alkmaar. AZ grabbed twelve wins.
Stijn Schaars is suspended and AZ heavily depend on their captain. Since Schaars joined AZ the club has 2.05 points per match when he plays and 1.70 points per match when Schaars is absent.
Ajax is back in contention for the title after the PSV and Twente draws last week, but the Amsterdam club are still coping with an internal power struggle with icon Johan Cruijff on one side and the board of directors on the other. Both sides contacted Guus Hiddink to work at the club, but the current national manager of Turkey refused a job in Amsterdam.
Coach Frank de Boer is positive about Hiddink, but he wants to focus on the four remaining matches to fight for the title. Met nog vier wedstrijden te gaan heeft Ajax drie punten achterstand op koploper FC Twente. “Everyone believes we can grab the championship”, he said.
Ajax play away at NEC on Sunday and the club will have to face Eredivisie top scorer Björn Vleminckx, who netted nineteen times for the Nijmegen squad this season. The Belgian striker never managed to score against Ajax. Ramon Zomer and Bram Nuytinck are the only two NEC players ever to hit the target against the Amsterdam club. Both scored once.
Heracles played host to PSV ten times before in the Eredivisie and the home team never managed to win. PSV defeated Heracles eight times and the match ended in a draw twice.
Last season PSV won 1-0 at Heracles and Ola Toivonen scored the only goal. The Swedish striker also scored twice in PSV’s 5-2 home win against Heracles earlier this season and last week he saved a point for PSV when he scored the 2-2 against sc Heerenveen. On Sunday he will not be available for PSV because of a hamstring injury.
PSV are still fighting for the title, but statistically the odds are against the Eindhoven team. The club never managed to grab the title when they were not league leaders after thirty match rounds before. Apart from that PSV have scored most goals of all Eredivisie clubs this season and the team with the most goals usually does not win the title in the Netherlands. The last time in history that the club with the most goals ended up celebrating the title was in the 1999/2000 season, when PSV were crowned champions.
“At this moment in competition, only winning counts”, said coach Michel Preud’homme on Friday. The FC Twente-coach looked forward to the away match at De Graafschap on Sunday. League-leaders Twente have a two point advantage over PSV and a three point advantage over Ajax.
Goalkeeper Nikolai Michailov and striker Luuk de Jong will be back from injury after their absence during the 3-1 home loss versus Spanish Villarreal in the UEFA Cup. Theo Janssen, Roberto Rosales and Bart Buysse will be suspended against De Graafschap.
Twente’s last three visits to De Graafschap ended in a draw. At home Twente defeated de ‘Superboeren’ 2-0 earlier this season. Theo Janssen scored twice from a free kick.
Willem II fired coach Gert Heerkes this week in an ultimate effort to avoid the inevitable. John Feskens and Raymond Vissers will have to save the bottom club for the Eredivisie, but Willem II will have to close a five point gap to second last VVV-Venlo in four matches.
On Sunday Willem II will play away at Feyenoord. The Tricolores only won three of their 36 previous Eredivisie visits at de Kuip. Willem II’s last away win against Feyenoord dates back to 1994, when Willem II won 2-0.
This season Feyenoord did not manage to beat Willem II in Tilburg. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Ricky van Haaren scored an own goal after Kelvin Leerdam had put the visitors 1-0 up. Leerdam’s availability for Sunday’s match is questionable due to a knee injury.
PSV are second on the table, but theoretically in a sound position to win the title because League leaders FC Twente visit number three Ajax on the last matchday. The Eindhoven club, who visit Heracles Almelo this weekend, are two points behind. If PSV and Twente end up equal in points it’s the goal difference that counts and in that respect PSV are way better than both Twente and Ajax.
Ajax for their part will have to win four matches, wait and see PSV drop at least two points in the last four match rounds. The first of Ajax’ four finals is away at NEC.
“The players must be aware that at this moment nothing is more important than FC Utrecht. They the expectations”, Utrecht-coach Ton du Chatinier said about the match against sc Heerenveen on Friday. UItrecht lost its last three league matches and they fear to lose sight on a play-off sport for Europa League tickets.
Utrecht are handicapped, playing without the injured Mark van der Maarel, Ismo Vorstermans, Leon de Kogel and Jacob Mulenga, who also missed last week’s 4-0 loss against Feyenoord. Edouard Duplan will also be out for Friday’s game against Heerenveen and Kevin Strootman’s availability is questionable.
Sc Heerenveen just hope to finish the disappointing first season with Ron Jans on the bench on a high note. The ‘Friezen’ are on a seven match non-winning streak and they also lost their away match at FC Utrecht this season (2-1). Jan Wuytens scored the winner in injury time.
Vitesse come from a 1-0 loss at ADO Den Haag. At home the Arnhem team hope to keep their undefeated streak in 2011 alive. Despite Vitesse not having lost at home since 12 Demember last year, the home crowd doesn’t get too excited. With only 60 percent of the seats filled at the Gelredome Vitesse attract the smallest relative crowd on average in the Eredivisie. Groningen have an average of 97 percent of their tickets sold for home matches.
Groningen lost their away match at Ajax 2-0 last week and the northerners, who dropped from fourth place to sixth in a couple of weeks, hope to rebound in the last four matches to end up fourth.
Earlier this season in Groningen the home team humiliated Vitesse 4-1. It was Albert Ferrer’s third match a Vitesse-coach.
Excelsior did not manage to beat De Graafschap last week and Alex Pastoor’s face a tough job to avoid relegation play-off in the last four matches of the regular season. The coach himself is pretty sure to stay in the Dutch top-flight having signed at NEC next season.
If Excelsior end up in the relegation play-offs it will be the 16th time they play in the ‘nacompetitie’. Last season the club promoted after winning the play-offs.
Earlier this season NAC beat Excelsior 3-1 at Woudestein. Matthew Amoah (39’), Robbert Schilder (75’) and Ali Boussaboun (90+2’) scored for NAC and Tim Vincken (84’) hit the target for the home team.
It the South of Limburg against the North of Limburg in Kerkrade on Saturday. Southerners Roda are in contention for a spot in the Europa League play-offs, while their Northern neighbors are struggling second from bottom.
VVV-Venlo never managed to win an Eredivisie match in Kerkrade. Roda won eight of the previous eleven top flight games and the match ended in a draw three times. In home and away matches Roda is on a 16 match undefeated streak against VVV.
Earlier this season Roda hammered VVV 4-0 in Venlo. Willem Janssen (3’), Laurent Delorge (22’) and Mads Junker (30’, 80’) scored. Coach Jan van Dijk was fired five days later.
AZ and ADO will have a fight for fourth place on Saturday. The visitors are the currect number four, but number five AZ are only one point away. Earlier this season AZ managed to beat ADO 2-0 in The Hague, with Rasmus Elm and Maarten Martens scoring the goals.
The last ADO win in Alkmaar came in 2004, when AZ was defeated by an own goal of Jan Kromkamp. In total ADO only won two of their 22 Eredivisie visit’s to Alkmaar. AZ grabbed twelve wins.
Stijn Schaars is suspended and AZ heavily depend on their captain. Since Schaars joined AZ the club has 2.05 points per match when he plays and 1.70 points per match when Schaars is absent.
Ajax is back in contention for the title after the PSV and Twente draws last week, but the Amsterdam club are still coping with an internal power struggle with icon Johan Cruijff on one side and the board of directors on the other. Both sides contacted Guus Hiddink to work at the club, but the current national manager of Turkey refused a job in Amsterdam.
Coach Frank de Boer is positive about Hiddink, but he wants to focus on the four remaining matches to fight for the title. Met nog vier wedstrijden te gaan heeft Ajax drie punten achterstand op koploper FC Twente. “Everyone believes we can grab the championship”, he said.
Ajax play away at NEC on Sunday and the club will have to face Eredivisie top scorer Björn Vleminckx, who netted nineteen times for the Nijmegen squad this season. The Belgian striker never managed to score against Ajax. Ramon Zomer and Bram Nuytinck are the only two NEC players ever to hit the target against the Amsterdam club. Both scored once.
Heracles played host to PSV ten times before in the Eredivisie and the home team never managed to win. PSV defeated Heracles eight times and the match ended in a draw twice.
Last season PSV won 1-0 at Heracles and Ola Toivonen scored the only goal. The Swedish striker also scored twice in PSV’s 5-2 home win against Heracles earlier this season and last week he saved a point for PSV when he scored the 2-2 against sc Heerenveen. On Sunday he will not be available for PSV because of a hamstring injury.
PSV are still fighting for the title, but statistically the odds are against the Eindhoven team. The club never managed to grab the title when they were not league leaders after thirty match rounds before. Apart from that PSV have scored most goals of all Eredivisie clubs this season and the team with the most goals usually does not win the title in the Netherlands. The last time in history that the club with the most goals ended up celebrating the title was in the 1999/2000 season, when PSV were crowned champions.
“At this moment in competition, only winning counts”, said coach Michel Preud’homme on Friday. The FC Twente-coach looked forward to the away match at De Graafschap on Sunday. League-leaders Twente have a two point advantage over PSV and a three point advantage over Ajax.
Goalkeeper Nikolai Michailov and striker Luuk de Jong will be back from injury after their absence during the 3-1 home loss versus Spanish Villarreal in the UEFA Cup. Theo Janssen, Roberto Rosales and Bart Buysse will be suspended against De Graafschap.
Twente’s last three visits to De Graafschap ended in a draw. At home Twente defeated de ‘Superboeren’ 2-0 earlier this season. Theo Janssen scored twice from a free kick.
Willem II fired coach Gert Heerkes this week in an ultimate effort to avoid the inevitable. John Feskens and Raymond Vissers will have to save the bottom club for the Eredivisie, but Willem II will have to close a five point gap to second last VVV-Venlo in four matches.
On Sunday Willem II will play away at Feyenoord. The Tricolores only won three of their 36 previous Eredivisie visits at de Kuip. Willem II’s last away win against Feyenoord dates back to 1994, when Willem II won 2-0.
This season Feyenoord did not manage to beat Willem II in Tilburg. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Ricky van Haaren scored an own goal after Kelvin Leerdam had put the visitors 1-0 up. Leerdam’s availability for Sunday’s match is questionable due to a knee injury.
