A direct duel for the lead in the Eredivisie against FC Utrecht may sound a bit awkward, but that is exactly what the match entails. After all, the Domstadelingen are in second place in the Eredivisie.
FC Utrecht currently has 5 fewer points, but that is also because it has played one less game. If the home team triumphs on Sunday, and at a later stage also knocks off Ajax in the catch-up game, it is virtually in first place.
In total, the main squad played 107 times against FC Utrecht. 72 times we came out on top, making the Utrecht team our favorite opponent. Eleven times FC Utrecht emerged victorious and 24 times the teams were evenly matched. That was also the case last season, when we dropped our first points after seventeen games. On January 21, 2024 it was 1-1 in Stadion Galgenwaard. Johan Bakayoko opened the score in the seventh minute on behalf of PSV, but after halftime Othmane Boussaid equalized.
Records
PSV reached another impressive milestone by scoring more than one hundred goals in a calendar year in the Eredivisie for the fourth time in club history. The hundredth goal was scored by Ricardo Pepi, who completed the 5-0 victory with his hat-trick against FC Groningen. This mark was already passed once in 1987 (110 goals), 1995 (107 goals) and 2023 (103 goals). With four games left to play in 2024, we may even break our own record.
Ricardo Pepi
It is the same Ricardo Pepi who after his hat-trick against FC Groningen occupies the shared leading position of top scorer in the Eredivisie, together with Sem Steijn, both with 9 goals. However, Pepi needed less playing time to accomplish this feat: he played 518 minutes, which is more than seven hours less than Steijn, who was in action for 956 minutes. That amounts to an average of one goal every 56 minutes. By comparison, in Europe's top six leagues, Viktor Gyökeres scores on average every 61 minutes, Robert Lewandowski every 78 minutes and Erling Haaland every 90 minutes.
Cross links
Ryan Flamingo returns to the old nest on Sunday. The central defender played for the Domstadelingen on a rental basis last season. Vice versa, we will meet two old acquaintances in Utrecht: Sam Lammers and Nick Viergever.
