The standout fixture of round 14 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season sees PSV Eindhoven welcome AZ Alkmaar to the Philips Stadion on Saturday.
The home side are aiming to make it five wins on the spin, while their visitors will be looking to bounce back from a first defeat in four matches last time out.
Match preview
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PSV Eindhoven got the better of defending champions Ajax in a 2-1 victory in Sunday's heavyweight meeting between the teams at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.
Ruud van Nistelrooy's men opened the scoring through Luuk de Jong and doubled their lead through Erick Gutierrez before Lorenzo Lucca pulled one back to set up a thrilling finale.
As a result, the Rood-witten have reclaimed leadership of the Eredivisie table, albeit only on goal difference with Feyenoord level on points.
Their next task sees them go up against an opposing who have lost just one of the most recent six editions of this fixture, winning the other five.
Currently on a run of six home wins in a row across all competitions, Saturday's hosts set out to secure another feather in the cap on their own turf.
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AZ Alkmaar saw their three-match winning streak come to a shock end courtesy of a 3-1 defeat to RKC Waalwijk at the Mandemakers Stadion on Sunday.
Arne Slot's men broke the deadlock through Jesper Karlsson and looked to be on their way to all three points before Iliass Bel Hassani's equaliser and a second-half brace from Zakaria Bakkali turned the contest on its head.
The Cheeseheads remain in fifth place in the league standings nonetheless but missed the opportunity to move within one point of the summit.
Since winning eight away matches on the bounce between August 14 and October 9, Saturday's visitors have lost three of their subsequent four outings on the road and will be keen to get themselves back on track.
Team News
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Olivier Boscagli remains unavailable for PSV due to a knee problem, while 18-year-old Jamal Gonzaga also continues to battle with an ankle injury.
Midfielder Ismael Saibari is without an appearance since early October owing to a thigh injury which is set to rule him out of Saturday's contest as well.
AZ Alkmaar's Bruno Martins-Indi misses out yet again due to a muscle injury alongside Zinho Vanheusden, who is currently down with a foot injury.
This weekend's away side will also have to make do with the absence of Norway international Hakon Evjen, as he is yet to shake off a niggling ankle problem.
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Max, Obispo, Ramalho, Mwene; Gutierrez, Sangare; Gakpo, Veerman, Simons; De Jong
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Verhulst; Kerkez, Dekker, Beukema, Chatzidiakos; Reijnders, Bazoer, Clasie; Karlsson, Odgaard, Sugawara
We say: PSV Eindhoven 3-2 AZ Alkmaar
With the plethora of attacking talent on display, we anticipate an open match with chances at both ends. That said, we just about fancy PSV to have enough about themselves to come away with a narrow victory at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
