Round 25 of the Eredivisie season is upon us and Friday evening sees the return with a key tie towards the foot of the table.
- By Leo Walker
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ADO Den Haag, who recorded a vital away win at Roda JC last week, have the opportunity to lift out of the bottom three should they defeat the Go Ahead Eagles at home. The visitors have, most would say, over achieved this season with their impressive no fear approach, but a defeat at the Kyocera Stadion could see them pulled further into the battle.
Saturdays action kick starts with sc Heerenveen at home to NAC Breda. In the previous 8 Eredivisie fixtures between the two, sc Heerenveen are undefeated after recording 6 victories and 2 draws. NAC Breda however are undefeated in their last 4 games in the league including the 1-1 tie at home to Feyenoord last season which seriously dented their opponents title bid. An hour later our attention returns to the relegation battle with SC Cambuur entertaining Roda JC. The hosts have an impressive home record and if you split out the Eredivisie by home and away, SC Cambuur are 6th for all games held at the Cambuur Stadion with 7 victories recorded. Roda JC travel to the fortress of SC Cambuur low on confidence, the rock bottom side have suffered four successive losses and early pressure has mounted on new boss Jon Dahl Tomasson.
A mid table clash between PEC Zwolle and Heracles Almelo will then take place before the days finale when PSV travel to NEC Nijmegen. PSV have recorded three successive victories as they look to finish their disappointing season on a high and salvage a strong position. Though in 2014 the former bottom side of the league have improved form also, just one defeat in 6 games and 2 victories has seen them lift out of the bottom three.
The team with the poorest form in 2014 is FC Utrecht who have dropped to a low lying 15th and find themselves in the relegation battle. In the last 8 games they have suffered 6 defeats and just 2 draws without a win to their name. They host FC Groningen who last week recorded their first victory of the season when beating the Go Ahead Eagles. The two sides in poor form this calendar year kick start the Eredivisie action on Sunday.
The three remaining games of the weekend contain the sides who retain the top four spots.
Ajax, embarrassed at home on Thursday by Red Bull Salzburg following the 3-0 defeat in the Europa League, host AZ Alkmaar. The visitors to the Amsterdam Arena fared much better in the Europa League after they scored late on away at Slovan Liberec to win 1-0. The heavy defeat for Ajax, deemed by most as the worst performance by the club under Frank de Boer, could knock their confidence for six and hinder their bid for four successive titles therefore they will be desperate to put it right and defeat AZ Alkmaar, with the visitors potentially suffering from fatigue after Thursday away trip.
Also desperate for a victory are Vitesse Arnhem whose winless run of four games has seen them drop out of the Eredivisie title picture as they lie in 4th from at one stage looking like they could challenge Ajax all the way. Their season is all too familiar to that of last when they faded significantly in the second half of the season. They host RKC Waalwijk at the Gelredome before the final game of the weekend, and the resilient defence of RKC will be looking to contain the attack of Vitesse who haven’t scored in their last three games.
The final game of the weekend promises to be a corker, as FC Twente, who lie in 2nd, face the side in 3rd, Feyenoord, at the Grolsch Veste Stadion. FC Twente inflicted a heavy 4-1 defeat on the nine men of Feyenoord at the start of the season as they stunned the De Kuip in their first loss in over a season at the fortress Stadion. Feyenoord who are clinging onto their title bid by the thinnest of threads following being held at NAC Breda, seek revenge for that early season defeat. Both sides will be desperate not to lose as anything but a victory could see Ajax step ever closer to that elusive fourth title in a row.
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