The Cathedral Citizens will try to end a worrying winless streak, while the visitors will be looking to make it 3 wins in a row since returning from the winter break.
After a three-week winter break, Utrecht returned to the festival last Sunday against relegation-threatened Vitesse at the GelreDome, and the day ended in a draw against the Arnhem club, with Eloy Room and Vasilios Barkas winning. .
A percentage of the last match’s haul extended Cathedral Citizens’ unbeaten run to nine games in the Eredivisie after a run of seven defeats in the best eight at the start of the campaign, meaning Ron Jans’ men have avoided trouble in the league. The lowest in recent months.
Utrecht are last time to be 13th in the Eredivisie table after amassing a consistent total of 18 points from their first 17 league games, four points ahead of 16th-placed RKC Waalwijk and six ahead of 17th-placed Vitesse, who have won just one championship game since October. .
Scoring just 17 times in as many games in the first half of the Eredivisie, only Waalwijk and Vitesse have scored fewer league goals than Sunday’s hosts, with attacking midfielder Victor Jensen leading the way to the club’s Golden Boot with just 4 goals.
Utrecht fans will rely on their home record to hope for an upset result against the league leaders, with Jans’ side unbeaten at the Stadion Galgenwaard since September 30, when newly-promoted Almere City went berserk and scored two goals in the match. Last 10 minutes through Thomas Robinet and Rajiv van La Parra.
After facing Heracles and German side Hamburger SV in friendlies over the winter break, PSV Eindhoven returned to the festivals in the new year with back-to-back 3-1 wins, beating SBV Excelsior in the Eredivisie before coming out on top. KNVB Cup on Wednesday night.
The hosts at Philips Stadion booked their place in the third round of the festival in style, with Yorbe Vertessen, Luuk de Jong and Johan Bakayoko on the scoreboard to give them a three-goal lead, before Manfred Ugalde fired home. A consolation for the Tukkers at the end of the game.
With Ajax dominating the Dutch scene for so long, PSV are taking advantage of the perennial champions’ woes this term, with Peter Bosz’s men collecting maximum points from the opening 17 matches of the term, meaning they possess an unprecedented 11-point buffer between themselves and title holders Feyenoord in second.
While Feyenoord’s Santiago Gimenez and AZ Alkmaar’s Evangelos Pavlidis are battling for the division’s Golden Boot this season, PSV have scored all over the pitch so far, with former Newcastle United player De Jong, Guus Til, Hirving Lozano and Malik Tilman combined for 32. Championships. Strikes.
Remarkably, Eindhoven’s away record surpasses that of the Philips Stadion at mid-season, with Bosz’s men scoring 30 goals and conceding just two in eight consecutive Eredivisie wins away from home, meaning a point for Utrecht on Sunday (not to say 3) would be enough. It is a primary discomfort.
Utrecht will be without former Manchester United youngster Zidane Iqbal, who recently found himself on an overseas mission with Iraq at the Asian Cup.
Sunday’s hosts have few roles on the pitch due to the absence of Anthony Descotte, the Belgian who has been playing since October due to a knock.
Winger Marouan Azarkan is also still sidelined with a head injury, Othman Boussaid is expected to start again on the wings.
After scoring six goals in 14 league games, PSV midfielder Ismael Saibari bid farewell to Eredivisie football for the month as he helps Morocco fight for Africa Cup of Nations glory.
Lozano, a foreigner from Mexico, returned from a hip injury in Wednesday night’s cup win over Twente, and the 28-year-old could start this weekend for the first time since November.
Southampton loan member Armel Bella-Kotchap is unhappy with his move from England’s south coast to Eindhoven, most recently in Germany on October 8 due to injury.
Possible FC Utrecht XI: Barkas; Ter Avest, Flamingo, Viergever, Elkarouani; Bozdogan, Fraulo, Boussaid, Jensen, Ramselaar; Lammers
PSV Eindhoven’s possible XI: Benitez; Teze, Silva, Boscagli, Dest; Til, Veerman, Schouten; Bakayoko, Tillman, De Jong
After drawing a blank against basement dwellers Vitesse last time out, Utrecht will not be too confident of earning anything from the visit of the league leaders.
PSV have eased past their Eredivisie rivals this season, and we see no explanation why Sunday’s match at the Stadion Galgenwaard goes against the trend. For information on the most likely results, scores and more for this match, click here.