PSV Eindhoven and Sparta Rotterdam draw the curtain on gameweek eight of the Eredivisie season with their meeting at the Philips Stadion on Sunday.
Both teams will be looking to give an immediate response to respective league defeats last time out which should make for an exciting contest.
Match preview
© Reuters
PSV suffered a second league defeat in three matches following a 2-1 loss versus high-flying Willem II at the Koning Willem II Stadion.
Eran Zahavi had a rollercoaster first half where he scored at both ends, before Che Nunnely grabbed the winner midway through the second period.
Roger Schmidt's men, who once led the way as recently as a fortnight ago, have now dropped to fourth position in the Eredivisie table, four points behind Ajax.
However, The Rood-witten cruised to a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Austrian side Sturm Graz in matchday two of the Europa League on Thursday.
With 10 wins from the last 13 meetings versus Sunday's opponents, the hosts will fancy themselves to continue their already-established dominance over their visitors.
© Reuters
Off the back of consecutive stalemates, Sparta Rotterdam fell to a humbling 4-0 loss versus newcomers Cambuur at the Het Kasteel on Sunday.
Alex Bangura and Tom Boere scored either side of an Issa Kallon brace to condemn Henk Fraser's men to a first home defeat of the campaign.
De Kasteelheren have slipped to 14th place on the standings and are now just a point above the bottom three ahead of this weekend's trip to Eindhoven.
Sunday's visitors have scored the joint-fewest number of goals on the road this term and will need to improve in that regard to stand a chance of coming away with a positive result.
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- D
- L
- W
- L
- W
- D
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Thirty-three-year-old defender Aaron Meijers was shown a straight red card in Sparta's last outing and is suspended for Sunday's fixture.
In Meijers's absence, Mica Pinto is expected to return at left back for his sixth starting appearance of the season after he was an unused substitute last time out.
Tom Beugelsdijk will miss the match after picking up a thigh problem versus Fortuna Sittard which has seen him sit out the subsequent three outings.
Richard Ledezma, Shurandy Sambo and Mees Kreekels are all down with knee injuries, while Noni Madueke is unavailable due to a muscle problem.
PSV's Ibrahim Sangare was given his marching orders in midweek, but the Ivorian is in line to be feature right from the off in this one.
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Drommel; Max, Boscagli, Ramalho, Mwene; Sangare, Van Ginkel, Gotze; Gakpo, Zahavi, Bruma
Sparta Rotterdam possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Pinto, Heylen, Vriends, Abels; Auassar, Osman, Van Crooy; Mijnans, Smeets, Thy
We say: PSV Eindhoven 2-0 Sparta Rotterdam
PSV Eindhoven have fallen off the pace in recent weeks and will be keen to get back on track by coming out on top in this one. Sparta, on the other hand, are in dire need of a lift following a wretched run of results. We are tipping the home team to carry the day come the sound of the full-time whistle.
Top 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 66.24%. A draw had a probability of 19.9% and a win for Sparta Rotterdam had a probability of 13.82%.
The most likely scoreline for a PSV Eindhoven win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.97%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.64%) and 2-1 (9.76%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.48%), while for a Sparta Rotterdam win it was 0-1 (4.61%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that PSV Eindhoven would win this match.
