PSV Eindhoven are on the verge of claiming the Eredivisie title as they head to Abe Lenstra Stadion to take on Heerenveen on Thursday evening. Should PSV triumph and Feyenoord falter later that night, the Eindhoven giants could be crowned league champions for the 25th time in their illustrious history. PSV’s league campaign has been remarkable, and after three consecutive seasons of finishing as runners-up, they now stand on the cusp of reclaiming the Eredivisie crown, needing just four points from their remaining four fixtures. Since their solitary league defeat against NEC last month, PSV have been in rampant form, netting 13 goals in their last three matches, including five against AZ and a 6-0 demolition of Vitesse last week. Against Vitesse, Luuk de Jong opened the scoring in the 28th minute, with Malik Tillman and Andre Ramalho extending the lead to 3-0 before the interval. Johan Bakayoko continued his impressive form, scoring the fourth of the afternoon before de Jong grabbed his second of the game and Hirving Lozano netted in stoppage time. That result saw de Jong etch his name into the record books once again, becoming only the fourth player to score 25 or more goals in four different Eredivisie seasons, while Bakayoko became the second-youngest foreign player to find the net in four consecutive Eredivisie games for PSV, after Ronaldo in 1995. Next up for Peter Bosz’s team is Heerenveen, a side they comfortably defeated 2-0 in the reverse fixture back in December and one they have not lost to in their last 11 encounters, dating back to September 2017. Heerenveen have enjoyed another solid season but have slipped out of the top half of the standings in recent weeks, failing to secure a victory in five games, including three losses and two draws between March 10 and April 7. However, they managed to end that winless run in their last outing, overcoming Heracles 2-0 with goals from Che Nunnely and Pelle van Amersfoort in the match’s first and final 10 minutes, respectively. That result kept Kees van Wonderen’s side four points behind ninth-placed Sparta Rotterdam, but the win also guaranteed that they cannot be automatically relegated this season, now 17 points clear of the drop with 12 points left to play for. The hosts will now be looking to avoid a fourth consecutive match without victory at Abe Lenstra Stadion. During that time, they lost to Feyenoord and Utrecht, drew against Twente, and conceded three goals in each of those matches. For this match, Heerenveen will be able to welcome back Oliver Braude, who served his one-match suspension last week for the red card he received against Utrecht at the start of the month. Denzel Hall remains suspended and will not feature in midweek, while Osame Sahraoui missed the trip to Almelo with a knock and is a doubt for this one. PSV announced earlier in the week that Sergino Dest suffered a serious knee injury during training, and it appears that he is now set to miss the remainder of the season as well as this summer’s Copa America in the United States. Dest is the latest addition to PSV’s injury list, which already includes Isaac Babadi (knee) and Noa Lang (hamstring), who are both ruled out for the season. Ismael Saibari (muscle) and Ricardo Pepi (knock) are listed as questionable. Possible starting lineup for Heerenveen: Van der Hart; Ali, Van Beek, Bochniewicz, Kohlert; Haye, Olsson; Nunnely, Brouwers, Walemark; Van Amersfoort Possible starting lineup for PSV Eindhoven: Benitez; Teze, Silva, Boscagli, Van Aanholt; Schouten, Veerman; Bakayoko, Til, Tillman; De Jong PSV are streaking towards the title and are doing it in style. They have been scoring goals for fun lately and now face a Heerenveen side that has shipped nine in their last three home games alone, which does not bode well for their chances in this match. We predict that the champions-elect will notch up another big win in this one.
PSV Eye Eredivisie Title with Win at Heerenveen
