After a short international break, the Eredivisie resumes. PSV can continue their unbeaten status against NEC from Gelderland. An opponent with whom PSV had few problems in the past, statistics show.
Since the first Eredivisie game against NEC, in the 1967-1968 season, PSV has maintained an unbeaten status at home. It did not lose one of its 42 home matches against the team from the Imperial City (W38-G4-V0). The last draw occurred in the 2008-2009 season (1-1). Only three times before did a club in the Eredivisie manage to remain unbeaten 42 home games in a row against a specific opponent.
Hard to beat
PSV 1, with 7 wins and 1 draw, has started the season well. It thus continues where it left off last football year. Since the 3-0 defeat against Spanish Sevilla in February, PSV is 25 official matches unbeaten (W20-G5-V0). PSV's last league defeat was at the end of January, when it lost 1-0 at FC Emmen. Once this century, PSV was unbeaten for that long: 39 duels from March 2009 to January 2010. If the three points stay at Philips Stadium, it will be the 3rd consecutive season that the club manages to win its first 4 Eredivisie matches.
Top scorer
Last season's home duel ended in a convincing 3-0 win for PSV. Luuk de Jong was the hit from the penalty spot, the other goals were scored by Noni Madueke and Anwar El Ghazi. For captain Luuk, the game against NEC could bring a beautiful milestone: should he score, he will pass Luc Nilis on the eternal top scorer list of PSV in the Eredivisie. He still shares 3rd place with 'Lucky Luc' with both 110 goals, behind Willy van der Kuijlen (308) and Coen Dillen (119).
The figures show that in NEC Luuk knows one of his favorite opponents: in the shirt of PSV, he played 6 Eredivisie matches against the Nijmegen formation, and was effective in each of those encounters. In total, he scored 7 times and provided 4 assists.
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Even more goals
The beginning of this Eredivisie season can be called a goal-rich one for PSV: 9 goals have already been scored in the 3 previous games. In the last 9 home games in the Eredivisie, 30 goals have already been scored. Should PSV score at least 2 goals on Saturday, it will do so for the 10th consecutive home game in the Eredivisie. The last time that happened was in 2012.
Return Hirving Lozano
In the game against NEC, Hirving Lozano could make his return to the PSV shirt. The Mexican comes over from SSC Napoli, the club PSV sold him to four years ago. Between 2017 and 2019, 'Chucky' accounted for 34 goals in 60 Eredivisie games. The outfielder played his last game for the Red-Whites on August 11, 2019, against ADO Den Haag (3-1).
Familiar faces
Within NEC's selection there are no players with a PSV past. However, captain Lasse Schöne has played 30 times against PSV in all competitions (W9-G4-V17). Center striker Bas Dost once scored on behalf of German side VfL Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League against PSV (1 goal, October 2015) and on behalf of sc Heerenveen in a 2-2 draw in Eindhoven (April 2011).
World record
On Saturday, PSV will compete in a special anniversary jersey, in honor of the 110-year sponsorship commitment between PSV and Philips. This is considered the longest running partnership between sponsor and sports club worldwide, and has been crowned by the Guinness Book of Records. To celebrate, Philips returns once again on the chest of a unique PSV shirt.
