Second-placed PSV Eindhoven head into Sunday's fixture with Feyenoord looking to record their fourth successive victory in the Eredivisie.
While the visitors are attempting to keep pace with Ajax, the home side find themselves down in fifth position after three defeats in a row.
Match preview
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Having witnessed his side let slip a two-goal advantage at Ajax earlier this month, PSV boss Roger Schmidt would have had concerns that his side had missed their chance to remain in close proximity with the leaders.
While Ajax have gone on to win their next four matches, PSV have managed to put together a three-game winning streak of their own, the latest victory coming at Emmen in midweek.
PSV required two goals in the final 10 minutes to overcome the bottom-of-the-table side, something which will worry Schmidt ahead of a meeting at one of their title rivals.
Nevertheless, as shown elsewhere in midweek, results are all that are important at this stage of the campaign, and sitting four points adrift of Ajax remains a respectable position to be in with 15 fixtures remaining.
Donyell Malen went another game without finding the back of the net on Tuesday, but strike partner Eran Zahavi was able to score for the second match in succession.
Opponents Feyenoord would have had high hopes of keeping pace with Ajax and PSV after recording three consecutive wins at the turn of the year.
However, setbacks against the leaders, AZ Alkmaar and Heerenveen have left Dick Advocaat's team at risk of dropping outside of the European places.
With sixth-placed Groningen to follow this match, De club aan de Maas are under pressure to turn things around in the defensive third of the pitch.
Feyenoord have conceded eight goals in their last three outings in all competitions, including three during a 22-minute spell at Heerenveen on Wednesday night.
Feyenoord Eredivisie form: WWWLLL
Feyenoord form (all competitions): WWLWLL
PSV Eindhoven Eredivisie form: WDLWWW
PSV Eindhoven form (all competitions): DLWWWW
Team News
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Advocaat is likely to make changes to his Feyenoord XI after their capitulation against Heerenveen.
Eric Botteghin, Lucas Pratto and Bryan Linssen are all pushing for recalls to the starting lineup.
While Feyenoord are missing Joao Teixeira, Justin Bijlow and Orkun Kokcu, PSV are without Nick Viergever, Armando Obispo, Cody Gakpo, Richard Ledezma and Maximiliano Romero.
Mario Gotze is in contention to return to the squad, while Mohamed Ihattaren could start if he has recovered from illness.
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Marsman; Geertruida, Botteghin, Senesi, Malacia; Diemers, Fer, Toornstra; Berghuis, Jorgensen, Linssen
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Mvogo; Dumfries, Teze, Boscagli, Max; Thomas, Rosario, Sangare, Ihattaren; Malen, Zahavi
We say: Feyenoord 1-2 PSV Eindhoven
The manner of their defeat at Heerenveen will concern everyone associated with Feyenoord, meaning that a fixture against PSV has not come at a good time. While we expect the home side to put up more of a fight, PSV should be able to take advantage of the lack of belief in Feyenoord's defensive third.
Top betting tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a PSV Eindhoven win with a probability of 52.92%. A win for Feyenoord had a probability of 23.98% and a draw had a probability of 23.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a PSV Eindhoven win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.77%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (9.48%) and 0-2 (8.56%). The likeliest Feyenoord win was 2-1 (6.17%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.82%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 2.3% likelihood.
