Willem II and PSV Eindhoven draw the curtain on gameweek 32 of the Eredivisie season on Sunday when they clash in Tilburg.
The visitors are in a two-way battle with AZ Alkmaar to finish in second spot, while the home side are embroiled in a relegation scrap at the bottom of the table.
Match preview
© Reuters
PSV's winning run has been halted at three games following a thrilling 2-2 stalemate versus Heerenveen at the Philips Stadion on Sunday.
Roger Schmidt's men were behind at half time to Tibor Halilovic's opener, but they responded with quickfire goals from Yorbe Vertessen and Cody Gakpo before Siem de Jong had the final say with his equaliser on the hour mark.
That point was enough to move the Rood-witten back into second place on the log, but it will surely feel more like two points dropped given that they were huge favourites for the game.
Sunday's visitors have an opportunity to put things right in another tie where they will be expected to come out on top.
Having claimed a 3-1 win in the reverse fixture, PSV are also aiming for a first league double over their hosts since the 2018/19 campaign.
Willem II had nothing to show for a spirited display against FC Utrecht in a game which they ended up losing 3-2 on Saturday.
Down by two goals, Zeljko Petrovic's men looked dead and buried at half time, but they put up a show of great resolve in the second period.
More significantly, the Superkruiken are now just a point above the drop zone with three matches remaining before the season reaches its conclusion.
Sunday's hosts will know that regardless of whatever happens this weekend, it is the results from their final two games which would really have a great say on the grand scheme of things.
- W
- D
- L
- L
- W
- L
- D
- L
- W
- W
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Twenty-year-old Vincent Schippers will miss the game through a shoulder injury which has kept him out of action for the past three weeks.
Robbin Ruiter is yet to feature since the turn of the year as the Dutch goalkeeper remains sidelined with a muscle injury.
PSV's Mohammed Ihattaren is ruled out of the clash due to a knee problem he sustained after coming on as a second-half substitute a fortnight ago.
Mauro Junior is expected to play no part as he continues to nurse a knee injury, but the Brazilian is not far off a comeback after missing the last two months of action.
Richard Ledezma and Maximiliano Romero have both had their seasons ended prematurely, picking up ACL and knee injuries respectively.
Willem II possible starting lineup:
Muric; Kohn, Van Beek, Holmen, Owusu; Kohlert, Llonch, Saddiki, Nunnely; Pavlidis, Okyere Wriedt
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Mvogo; Max, Viergever, Teze, Dumfries; Rosario, Boscagli, Gotze; Gakpo, Malen, Zahavi
We say: Willem II 1-3 PSV Eindhoven
With the title race finally over, PSV now have their sights set on finishing as runners-up which would also give them safe passage into next season's Champions League. Three points in a game of this weekend's nature is almost non-negotiable if the away side want to achieve the aforementioned objective, and we are backing them to get the job done in a fairly comfortable manner.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a PSV Eindhoven win with a probability of 66.56%. A draw had a probability of 18.2% and a win for Willem II had a probability of 15.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a PSV Eindhoven win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.68%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.32%) and 0-1 (7.93%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.24%), while for a Willem II win it was 2-1 (4.28%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 9.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that PSV Eindhoven would win this match.
