PSV Eindhoven and NAC Breda will be looking to further their respective agendas in the 2024-25 Eredivisie season when they go head-to-head at the Philips Stadion on Saturday evening.
The home side will be aiming to pull away at the top of the standings, while the away side set out this weekend seeking to continue their pursuit of European football.
Match preview
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From a position of relative comfort in the title race, PSV Eindhoven have let their challengers back in contention off the back of an underwhelming stretch of results domestically either side of the festive period.
A 3-1 defeat to PEC Zwolle at the MAC³PARK Stadion on Saturday means Peter Bosz's men have now managed just seven points from their last five matches, five points fewer than Ajax, who have been near-perfect in that time.
Subsequently, PSV's lead at the top of the Eredivisie table has now been cut to one point, and with 15 games still left to play, the defending champions have little margin for error in their quest for back-to-back league crowns for the first time since 2016.
De Rood-witten managed to bounce back from their recent league defeat by narrowly beating Red Star Belgrade 3-2 in the Champions League to keep their hopes of making it through to the knockout stages alive.
Saturday's hosts have a tough assignment against Liverpool to navigate in their final group-stage outing, but in the meantime, the focus is on this weekend's outing against a Breda outfit that have lost nine of the last 10 editions of this fixture, including a 3-0 defeat in November's reverse meeting.
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Needing to bounce back from defeats in each of their last three Eredivisie matches, Breda claimed one of their most impressive wins of the campaign by beating FC Twente 2-1 in Sunday's affair at the Rat Verlegh Stadion.
Continuing his hot streak in front of goal, Elias Mar Omarsson was on target for the fourth time in five matches to hand Carl Hoefkens's men a two-goal advantage after Adam Kaied had opened the scoring 14 minutes into the contest.
While securing all three points last time out was unable to move Parel van het Zuiden back into the European places, they are now level on points with eighth-placed Fortuna Sittard in the race for the final Conference League playoff spot.
Needing a promotion playoff to secure their return to the top flight, Breda have largely surpassed expectations this term after many had tipped them to be embroiled in a relegation battle given their inexperience at this level.
However, Saturday's visitors still have some improvement to make at both ends of the pitch having scored the fewest number of goals of any top-half side so far (23), while also letting in the joint-most (32).
Team News
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PSV Eindhoven's Fode Fofana and Sergino Dest are both out of contention for this one with knee injuries, while Malik Tillman is currently nursing an ankle problem.
Adamo Nagalo continues his three-month spell on the sidelines due to a shoulder problem, and the Burkina Faso international is still a long way off returning to action.
Following his double in midweek, Luuk de Jong has now directly contributed to eight goals in his last five matches for the hosts, making him one to keep an eye on.
Nineteen-year-old Cherrion Valerius is Breda's only guaranteed absentee for this one as he continues to battle with a knee problem, although the defender is closing in on a comeback.
Elias Mar Omarsson has scored three times across his first two competitive outings of 2025 and will be looking to deliver the goods for the away side once again.
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Mauro, Boscagli, Flamingo, Ledezma; Veerman, Schouten; Perisic, Til, Bakayoko; De Jong
NAC Breda possible starting lineup:
Bielica; Busi, Greiml, Van den Bergh; Kemper; Balard, Janosek, Sauer, Kaied; Omarsson, Van Hooijdonk
We say: PSV Eindhoven 4-1 NAC Breda
PSV are huge favourites to come out on top, and we cannot envisage any other outcome than a win for them.
We fully expect the home side to romp to an emphatic victory at the sound of the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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