Eredivisie Preview: PSV out to dent Vitesse hopes
The Eredivisie's form side PSV visit Vitesse on Saturday aiming for revenge and a win that would damage their opponents' title hopes.
Phillip Cocu's men have won six league matches in succession since a surprise 2-0 defeat at RKC Waalwijk in early February, and they will be looking to banish bad memories of the reverse fixture.
Second-placed Vitesse thumped PSV 6-2 at the Philips Stadion in December, scoring three times in the final five minutes as Cocu's side conceded six goals at home for only the second time in the Eredivisie.
A seventh straight league victory would see PSV close the gap on their opponents to two points in the race for UEFA Champions League qualification, while Vitesse will be equally desperate for the win as they look to make up ground on Ajax, who lead by six points.
Three points for Peter Bosz's side, who have won three league games in a row, would see them heap pressure on Frank de Boer's champions.
Ajax travel to NAC Breda 24 hours later on the back of a surprise 1-1 home draw with Cambuur last time out.
Meanwhile, the other two clubs in the race to secure Champions League football, Twente and Feyenoord, both entertain top-seven sides who have European ambitions of their own.
Third-placed Twente, who went down 1-0 at Go Ahead Eagles last Sunday, are experiencing a dip in form at just the wrong time with only one win in their last six Eredivisie outings while, in contrast, this weekend's opponents AZ have won both of their last two league games 4-0.
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Feyenoord, who sit fourth, bounced back from their 'De Klassieker' defeat to Ajax with a 2-0 victory at Groningen last week, and will be hoping for a similar result this time out when they host sixth-placed Heerenveen.
At the wrong end of the table, Roda JC climbed off the bottom by ending a run of six straight defeats with last week's crucial 3-1 win over fellow strugglers NEC, who replaced them at the foot, so Jon Dahl Tomasson's side travel to Heracles in good spirits.
NEC will look to respond when they host Utrecht, while the other side in the bottom three, Waalwijk, visit 11th-placed Cambuur.
Just above RKC are ADO Den Haag, who entertain Groningen, while PEC Zwolle take on Go Ahead Eagles.