Preview of all the action from round 23 of the Eredivisie which could see Ajax pull seven points clear.

  • By Leo Walker
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twenteAfter a midweek round, we got straight back into Eredivise action on Friday evening when Vitesse hosted bottom side, ADO Den Haag. Following a further defeat in midweek at home to Heracles, ADO Den Haag dismissed manager Maurice Steijn and Henk Fraser is in charge for the interim. In his first game as Head Coach, ADO Den Haag were simply superb and resilient in defence to hold the former league leaders to a 0-0 draw. Vitesse are now without a win in four games and their title bid is hanging on by the tiniest of threads as they will be hoping that results favourably go there way over the course of the weekend.

FC Twente have put themselves seriously into the title picture since the return from the winter break after recording three victories from the three games they have played. They travel to Eindhoven to take on Philip Cocu’s PSV side who continue to disappoint in a season that promised so much, though the high expectations have failed to materialise. PSV had to battle deep in midweek to record a 2-1 victory away in Cambuur, but on Saturday they face a much stronger and highly confident opposition who will be looking to maintain the pressure on Ajax by inflicting the 9th defeat if the season to PSV.

AZ Alkmaar inflicted a serious dent in the title hopes of Vitesse on Tuesday evening when running out comfortable 2-0 victors on the road. Dick Advocaats back to back victories has seen them rise up to 6th and go level on points with sc Heerenveen. They take to the road again as they face the Go Ahead Eagles and they will be looking to extend the hosts winless run to five games.

Roda JC find themselves in the bottom three after suffering back to back defeats p, including the first home defeat Nader new manager Jon Dahl Tomasson to Feyenoord on Tuesday. It is tight at the bottom and a victory for any side in the bottom three and they could find themselves above the relegation play off zone, however Roda face a tough tie at mid table club, NAC Breda. There relegation rivals NEC Nijmegen face a much more difficult tie as they will conclude the days action at the De Kuip as they take on Feyenoord. NEC Nijmegen have however yet to be defeated in 2014 and travel to Rotterdam with confidence that they can escape automatic relegation so it may not be a foregone conclusion at the De Kuip that most people will think.

SC Cambuur will be playing close attention to Saturday evenings action with the bottom three all playing and they will have the opportunity to keep away from the relegation play off zone as they will start Sundays schedule. The Eerste Divisie Champions of last season will travel to the home of Heracles Almelo.

Also keeping a keen eye on the action from Saturday evening will be the Champions Ajax as they face a tricky away visit to PEC Zwolle who have recorded three Eredivisie victories in a row. The former league leaders, managed by the ever impressive Ron Jans, defeated FC Utrecht on Thursday evening, a feat that Ajax could not match after they were held in Utrecht to a 1-1 draw last week.

It is FC Utrecht who will be kicking off at the same time as their last two opponents as they travel to Waalwijk to take on Erwin Koemans side. RKC defeated PSV last week in a famous victory whilst they were involved in a thrilling 2-2 draw with the Go Ahead Eagles during midweek. They are entertaining FC Utrecht who have had a roller coaster of a season so far and felt harshly done by on Thursday when suffering a red card on the hour mark which ultimately led to a defeat.

The weekends action concludes with the Derby of the North as FC Groningen host sc Heerenveen at the Euroborg Stadion. The visitors, managed by the outgoing Marco van Basten, suffered a 2-0 home defeat to FC Twente in midweek and are desperate to not start a slide down the table and jeopardise their strong European play-off position. The tie on Sunday is crucial for both clubs if they want European football next year. The Green and White army of FC Groningen rocked the Amsterdam Arena on Thursday evening despite walking away with no points and they will face their local rivals brimming with confidence.




Leo Walker (36 Posts)