Just a week before facing off in the KNVB Beker final, PSV Eindhoven and Ajax will do battle at the Philips Stadion in the Eredivisie on Sunday.
The two teams, who are set to miss out on this season's title, are neck-and-neck in the top-flight standings with 62 points each after 29 games, with the visitors sitting in second and above the hosts only on goal difference.
Match preview
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PSV Eindhoven extended their unbeaten run across all competitions to 11 matches when they secured maximum points in an entertaining 3-2 victory away against FC Volendam last weekend.
Guus Til netted either side of half time, while Luuk de Jong was also on the scoresheet, increasing his goal tally for the season to 10, to help the Rood-Witten win their fourth successive match.
Ruud van Nistelrooy's men are set to settle for a fifth straight season without winning the Eredivisie title as they, along with Ajax, currently sit eight points behind runaway leaders Feyenoord with only five games remaining.
PSV boast the best home record in the Dutch top flight so far this season, winning 12 and drawing one of their 14 matches at the Philips Stadion while also scoring 46 goals in the process – more than any other team in the division.
The Rood-Witten will fancy their chances of extending their impressive unbeaten run on Sunday having beaten Ajax in each of their last three meetings, including a 2-1 away league victory in November, and will be looking to complete their first league double over their Dutch rivals since the 2004-05 campaign.
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After beating Feyenoord 2-1 away from home in the KNVB Beker semi-finals earlier this month to set up a final showdown with PSV next week, Ajax have since recorded back-to-back Eredivisie home wins over Fortuna Sittard and FC Emmen.
A comfortable 4-0 success over Fortuna was followed by a 3-1 victory against Emmen last weekend, with Jorge Sanchez, Dusan Tadic and Steven Bergwijn all on the scoresheet – the latter of whom has now drawn level with Brian Brobbey and Mohammed Kudus at the top of the club's scoring charts with 11 this season.
Hopes of winning a fifth successive Eredivisie title seem all but over for Ajax this term, with Johnny Heitinga's side now looking to finish best of the rest in second place, and a victory over PSV on Sunday would provide a boost in their bid to achieve that minor target.
Ajax head to the Philips Stadion unbeaten in their last 10 Eredivisie away games, scoring a total of 28 goals and netting at least three in six of those games during this run – a goalless draw was played out at Go Ahead Eagles in their most recent away match, though.
Heitinga, who lost five of his nine encounters with PSV as a player with Ajax, will be keen for his side to continue their unbeaten run and lay down a marker on Sunday ahead of next weekend's Dutch Cup final.
Team News
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PSV duo Phillipp Mwene and Armando Obispo both remain sidelined with respective muscle and knee injuries, while Mauro Junior and Fode Fofana are both doubtful with minor issues and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
A back four of Jordan Teze, Andre Ramalho, Jarrad Branthwaite and Patrick van Aanholt is set to remain intact, protecting goalkeeper Walter Benitez.
After scoring a brace last weekend, Til will likely keep his place in centre-midfield ahead of Ibrahim Sangare, while Thorgan Hazard, Anwar El Ghazi and Fabio Silva will all be pushing to start in attack ahead of Johan Bakayoko, Luuk de Jong and Xavi Simons.
As for Ajax, Kudus is ruled out with a muscle injury, while Devyne Rensch and Ahmetcan Kaplan will require a late fitness test to determine their availability this weekend.
Versatile Mexican Edson Alvarez received his 10th yellow card of the season last weekend – becoming the first-ever Ajax player to reach double figures for bookings in a single Eredivisie season – and is subsequently suspended for Sunday's match; Calvin Bassey is the most likely candidate to start at centre-back alongside Jurrien Timber as a result.
Brobbey will be hoping to force his way back into the first XI, but Van Nistelrooy may opt to stick with an unchanged front three of Tadic, Bergwijn and Steven Berghuis.
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Tete, Ramalho, Boscagli, Van Aanholt, Til, Gutierrez, Veerman; Bakayoko, De Jong, Simons
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Sanchez, Timber, Bassey, Wijndal; Klaassen, Grillitsch, Taylor; Berghuis, Tadic, Bergwijn
We say: PSV Eindhoven 2-2 Ajax
Considering at least three goals have been scored in each of the last six meetings between the two teams, an entertaining contest is set to take place on Sunday, with both sides seeking to end the weekend in second place.
PSV will be regarded as slight favourites being on home soil and having won the last three encounters with Ajax, but we believe that the visitors will do enough to pick up a point at the Philips Stadion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
