Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Eredivisie clash between Willem II and PSV Eindhoven, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
PSV will be out to maintain their perfect Eredivisie record this weekend when they travel to take on Willem II at the Koning Willem II Stadion on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts are currently in eighth place in the league standings after the first six games of the season while the visitors are two points clear at the top of the table.
Match preview
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Newly promoted Willem have earned major praise over the early stages of this season, having managed eight points over the first six games of the camapaign, including two wins, two draws and two defeats.
Superkruiken kicked off the league season with a very impressive performance, holding giants Feyenoord to a 1-1 draw, and proceeded to pick up a further four points in the next two games, beating Go Ahead Eagles and drawing against Heracles.
Their two defeats came either side of a gameweek five win over RKC Waalwijk, but both those losses were somewhat unfortunate, with Sparta Rotterdam scoring a last-minute winner in week four, while two own-goals proved to be their undoing in the 3-2 loss to Utrecht last weekend.
On home soil, Peter Maes‘s men have taken six points from a possible nine, and their six goals over that period is the joint-third best tally in the division behind their upcoming opponents (10) and Heerenveen (7).
However, the last time they faced PSV, Tricolores suffered a 4-2 defeat, marking their fourth loss in the last five encounters against the Red and Whites since February 2020.
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Notably, three of the goals PSV scored the last time these two last met came from Ritsu Doan, Cody Gakpo and Eran Zahavi, all of who have moved away from the Philips Stadion since then.
However, that did not stop the Farmers from romping to the league title last season, and based on their performances so far this term, it is going to take a massive effort from the rest of the sides in the division to challenge them for top spot in this campaign.
Six games into the season and Lampen are the only team in the league that are still carrying a flawless record, and are head and shoulders the most impressive team in attack, with an incredible 23 goals already to their name.
Three of those goals came last weekend away to Fortuna Sittard, following the only blemish on their record, a 3-1 loss to Juventus in the opening round of the new-look Champions League season.
Since taking charge of PSV at the start of July 2023, Peter Bosz has only experienced one away league defeat, while this term, the 60-year-old has already seen his side rattle in 13 goals in just three outings.
Willem II Eredivisie form:
PSV Eindhoven form (all competitions):
Team News
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Niels van Berkel has now missed a total of 24 games for Willem II following surgery to his knee, and the left-back is expected to remain out for a sizable chunk of the current campaign as well.
The hosts are also set to be without the services of Erik Schouten and Dani Mathieu, with both players ruled out for the foreseeable future due to injury.
PSV have one long term injury absentee in their ranks in Sergino Dest, who is also facing a lengthy spell on the sideline as he works his way back to full fitness from a cruciate ligament tear.
Fredrik Oppegard and Hirving Lozano are the only other players that are likely to be unavailable for the trip to Tilburg this weekend owing to a hamstring and muscle injury respectively.
Willem II possible starting lineup:
Didillon-Hodl; Tirpan, Behounek, St. Jago; Lachkar; Sigurgeirsson, Meerveld, Bosch, Doodeman; Vaesen, Sandra
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Junior, Flamingo, Boscagli, Dams; Schouten, Til, Veerman; Bakayoko, De Jong, Tillman
We say: Willem II 1-3 PSV Eindhoven
With 23 goals in six league games and an attacker in Luuk de Jong who seems to be finding top gear after a somewhat slow start to the season, it is difficult to back against PSV notching up another win this weekend.
Indeed, Willem II have impressed as well this term but we feel the visitors will have far too much firepower for them in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.