Full preview of all the action from round 16 of the Eredivisie, with PSV set to take on league leaders Vitesse in the pick of the round.
- By Leo Walker
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Round 16 gets underway Friday evening when bottom side, NEC Nijmegen, who recorded only their second victory of the season last week, travel to take on FC Utrecht. The victory last week has seen the deficit from 18th to 17th position reduced to just a point with RKC Waalwijk the current residents of the place above.
FC Utrecht have recorded back to back victories over ADO Den Haag an Heracles and are looking at continuing their rise up the table with a third successive victory after their dismal start to the season.
The Champions will start the Eredivisie proceedings on Saturday at home to 11th in the table, NAC Breda. Frank de Boers side are lying just two points off league leaders, Vitesse as they seek their fourth title in a row. It has been a mixed start to the season for Ajax however recent strong results, including last week’s comfortable 4-0 victory over ADO Den Haag has seen them look like title challengers again. A crucial tie towards the other end of the table will kick off an hour later when the newly promoted, SC Cambuur travels to take on RKC Waalwijk. The hosts of this fixture lie in 17th however have recorded a 1-0 victory over Feyenoord, and grinded out a 1-1 draw in Zwolle from their last two matches. Confidence in Erwin Koeman’s side is rising as they look to escape the bottom three zone with a victory over the Eerste Divisie Champions.
The evening concludes with two fierce encounters with both games arguably the tie of the round. Firstly, Dick Advocaat’s, AZ Alkmaar side entertain FC Twente at the AFAS Stadion with the visitors still within touching distance of the leaders as they lie 3 points behind. AZ Alkmaar suffered their first defeat under their new manager last week, which saw them drop to 6th position and they will be hopeful of putting that defeat behind them. After 16 games of the season so far, PSV are having one of their worst campaigns of all time with the Dutch giants retaining 10th position. Pressure is mounting on Philip Cocu whose position as manager is being questioned each and they welcome league leaders Vitesse to the Philips Stadion. Vitesse are yet to win a Dutch Championship however are on course to go close and will be looking to inflict a further defeat on PSV. The Georgian owned club are playing PSV at the right time and will be confident of taking all three points.
Sunday’s action starts where Saturday left off as sc Heerenveen host Feyenoord at the Abe Lenstra Stadion. Marco van Basten’s side just sneak into top half currently after last week’s 3-1 victory over Go Ahead Eagles, however in a dismal display on Wednesday evening, they were lucky to leave the Kyocera Stadion with a point following a last minute equaliser. Feyenoord inflicted a damaging 3-1 defeat on PSV last week and confidence is high, though it is the away form of the Rotterdammers that remains their Achilles heel. A victory in Friesland could see them pick up momentum for the second half of the season as they look to end their Eredivisie title drought.
ADO Den Haag were embarrassed at home to ADO Den Haag last week but put up a much better fight on Wednesday. They travel to the Euroborg Stadion, home of FC Groningen to continue the day’s action, in a further difficult tie. The club from The Hague are under performing against the expectations of most as they continue to reside in the bottom three. The fans are restless and frustrated, though a win for them looks a further week away as FC Groningen are undefeated at home this season. The initial league leaders of the season were PEC Zwolle who recorded four successive victories after four games at the start, however they are now in 8th, as inevitably their strong form was not to continue. They face a difficult tie in round 16 when they travel to Deventer and the home of the Go Ahead Eagles. PEC Zwolle faced the newly promoted side, SC Cambuur last week, in a 1-1 draw and this weekend they face the remaining promoted side of last season.
The final action of the week will see Roda JC entertain Heracles Almelo with the visitors currently lying above the bottom three zone by 1 point. The side from Almelo played in midweek in a 1-1 draw at the Go Ahead Eagles, and encouragingly their away form is stronger than their home, as they bid to remove themselves of any danger of being sucked into the bottom three. A win for Heracles would see them go level on points with Roda JC, though a loss, and should results go against them, they could find themselves in the bottom three.
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