Ajax - De Graafschap
Saturday
Heerenveen - NEC
PSV - ADO Den Haag
Excelsior - AZ
VVV - NAC
Sunday
Vitesse - Feyenoord
Groningen - Willem II
Utrecht - Twente
Heracles - Roda
On Friday, Amsterdam giants Ajax take on relegation candidates De Graafschap. The Godenzonen recorded a 3-0 routine win over NAC last week and sit third in the table at the moment with 41 points from 21 games. After the departure of Luis Suarez to Liverpool, head coach Frank de Boer will be looking toward Mounir el Hamdaoui and Miralem Sulejmani to provide Ajax with goals. De Graafschap have every reason to be pleased with their season so far as they sit 12th in the table with 25 points. The Superboeren recorded a scoreless draw against Utrecht this week and will be hopeful of picking up another good result in the Amsterdam ArenA.
Heerenveen host Nijmegen outfit NEC on Saturday evening in what could be a difficult game for the Friezen. They were hammered 4-1 at home by Groningen last week and are the Eredivisie's number nine after 21 games. The away side haven't been too impressive either this term and are the league's number 11, trailing their opponents by four points. NEC do have the leading topscorer of the Eredivisie in their team though and Bjorn Vleminckx will be eager to add to his tally at Abe Lenstra stadium after scoring once in NEC's 1-1 draw against Heracles last week. Elsewhere, table toppers PSV host ADO Den Haag. The Eindhoven side lost Ibrahim Afellay to Barcelona in the winter transfer window and it remains to be seen whether they can cope without their skipper. The Eindhoven side beat Willem II 2-1 last weekend courtesy of a late Genero Zeefuik strike. ADO have been one of the surprises of the 2010-11 campaign with their attacking style of play and their good results. They proved to be way too strong for Excelsior last week and cruised to a 5-1 away win. The Residentieclub currently sit seventh in the league table.
Rotterdam outfit Excelsior will be looking to return to winning ways in the home match against 2008-09 champions AZ, but it won't be an easy game for the Kralingers. They were thrashed 5-1 by ADO Den Haag last week and sit only 16th in the league table after 21 games. AZ on the other hand will be brimming with confidence following their impressive 6-1 victory over VVV last Saturday. The Alkmaarders are the Eredivisie's number five at the moment. In Venlo, relegation candidates VVV await a difficult match against NAC. The hosts have been in abysmal form in the past couple of weeks and were beaten 6-1 by AZ last week. The Limburgers sit 17th in the table after 21 games and could really use a good result at the weekend to stay away from 18th spot. NAC haven't been too impressive this term and sit in mid-table with 13 more games to be played in the 2010-11 campaign. They were left without a chance by Ajax last week and had to settle for a 3-0 home loss. Consequently, the Breda outfit will be eager to return to winning ways in the Koel.
On Sunday, Arnhem side Vitesse host fallen Eredivisie giants Feyenoord in what will be a crucial game for the Rotterdam side. Vitesse climbed to joint 13th spot in the table following their impressive 5-2 home win over Roda last week and they'll be eager to add three more points to their tally at the weekend. Feyenoord put in a strong performance against Twente last Sunday, but they eventually left Enschede empty handed following a late Bryan Ruiz goal. They consequently dropped to 15th spot in the table and can't afford to slip up again in the Gelredome. Elsewhere, surprise package Groningen will have to deal with Willem II if they are to stay in the race for the title. The Pride of the North defeated Heerenveen 4-1 last week in a very entertaining game. Dusan Tadic and Tim Matavz both impressed for Groningen and head coach Pieter Huistra's men sit fourth in the league table with 40 points. Willem II on the other hand were on the verge of shocking PSV last week until Zeefuik left the Tilburgers behind empty handed. The Tricolores still sit last in the table, but their recent form will give them confidence that an upset is possible on Sunday.
Furthermore, ambitious side Utrecht meet reigning champions Twente. The Domstedelingen were somewhat disappointingly held to a scoreless draw by De Graafschap on Tuesday and currently sit eighth in the table. They did manage to beat Ajax twice though this season and are a force to be reckoned with, especially at home. Twente struggled for the full 90 minutes against Feyenoord last week until Bryan Ruiz came to the rescue with a goal well into stoppage time to help the Tukkers to the full three points. They are the league's number two at the moment, trailing table toppers PSV by only one point. The final match of the weekend will be the game between Heracles and Roda in Almelo. The hosts have been struggling to find their best form since the restart of the season and had to settle for a 1-1 draw against NEC last week. They currently sit joint 13th with 21 points from as many games. Roda have been in good form this season, but they were dealt a bit of a blow last Saturday as Vitesse thrashed them 5-2. The Limburgers still sit sixth in the league table though and will be eager to return to winning ways against Heracles.
