Reigning Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven kick off their title defence with a clash against RKC Waalwijk at the Philips Stadion on Saturday.
While the home side possess lofty aspirations, their visitors will be content to stay afloat once again, having only just avoided relegation in the previous campaign.
Match preview
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PSV Eindhoven missed the opportunity to begin the new campaign with a piece of silverware owing to Sunday's 4-3 penalty-shootout defeat to Feyenoord in the Johan Cruyff Shield final.
However, Peter Bosz's men were imperious from start to finish last time out and deservingly emerged as champions, finishing seven points clear of nearest challengers Feyenoord and a further 15 points ahead of FC Twente in third.
De Rood-Witten scored a whopping 111 goals and conceded just 21 times to finish with a goal difference of +90, while also losing on just one occasion—a narrow 1-0 defeat against NEC with seven games left to play.
Having ended a six-year wait for domestic supremacy, the 25-time Eredivisie winners now go in search of back-to-back league crowns for the first time since 2016 under the tutelage of Phillip Cocu.
PSV picked up maximum points from each of their first 17 matches en route to winning the title last time out and will be looking to fly out of the blocks once again to lay down an early marker.
Their record against this weekend's opponents is music to the ears of Saturday's hosts, who have won nine straight editions of this fixture, completing a league double in each of the last four seasons.
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Since their return to the top tier of Dutch football in 2019 off the back of a five-year spell in the Eerste Divisie, Waalwijk have blown hot and cold across the subsequent five seasons.
Henk Fraser's men were on course to finish bottom in their first campaign back up before COVID-19 saw the entire season annulled, after which they avoided relegation only on goal difference in the following year.
Consecutive top-10 finishes in the next two seasons looked to have ushered in an era of stability, but an abysmal showing last time out proved otherwise as RKC finished 15th in the standings, level on points with the now-relegated Excelsior.
Waalwijk have ridden their luck somewhat to preserve their Eredivisie status until now, and there is need for a remarkable turnaround this term if they are to avoid dropping into the second division.
An opening fixture against the defending champions represents a tough assignment for anybody, let alone a side struggling as much as Saturday's visitors, who ended last season with one win from nine matches.
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Team News
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PSV trio Fode Fofana, Sergino Dest and Armando Obispo are all unavailable for Saturday's clash as they continue to nurse knee injuries.
Mauro Junior and Olivier Boscagli are ruled out through muscle and shoulder problems respectively which they picked up in a friendly encounter against Valencia last month.
Summer arrivals Couhaib Driouech and Ryan Flamingo are in line to make their Eredivisie debuts for the hosts having both featured in the Johan Cruyff Shield last time out.
Twenty-two-year-old Nouri El Harmazi remains out of contention for RKC Waalwijk as he is yet to feature since last year through a long-term injury.
Dutchman Jeffrey Bruma is suspended for this one after receiving his marching orders in his side's final league outing of last season back in May.
Liam Van Gelderen and Richard van der Venne will not play any part here, although the former is drawing increasingly closer to a return to action.
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Teze, Schouten, Flamingo, Oppegard; Tillman, Veerman; Bakayoko, Saibari, Lang; De Jong
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Van Osch; Wouters, Castillo, Van den Buijs, Lelieveld; Cleonise, Vroegh, Felida, Niemeijer; Lokesa, Kramer
We say: PSV Eindhoven 3-0 RKC Waalwijk
PSV Eindhoven will be keen to start as they mean to go on and deliver an early statement of intent.
We fancy the champions to run out emphatic winners here and commence their title defence with maximum points this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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