With PSV 1 fully at match strength after a training camp in Estepona, the team opens its second half of the season in the Eredivisie against Excelsior Rotterdam. With a good result against De Kralingers, the club can match a club record from a historic season.
Peter Bosz 's formation looks back on a perfect first half of the season: not a single game of the sixteen Eredivisie encounters played was lost. For the second time in history, a club has managed to remain error-free after so many games. The last time PSV lost at all in the Eredivisie dates back to Jan. 24, 2023, some 32 duels ago. This century there have been two other unbeaten series of at least 30 league games, both put down by PSV: series of 35 (2000-2001) and 32 (2009-2010).
A good balance
PSV has a good run against Saturday's opponent: in the last 26 Eredivisie matches it has not lost (W24-G2-V0). The main squad only lost points in March 2007 (0-0 in Rotterdam) and October 2015 (1-1 in Eindhoven). In the latter game, PSV did take the lead through Davy Pröpper, but Nigel Hasselbaink was the celebrated man for the away team. The last loss occurred in 1985, when Excelsior Rotterdam won 2-0 at home.
New milestone
Should PSV win against Excelsior Rotterdam, it will equal its own club record. In the 1987-1988 season, under Guus Hiddink, the first seventeen Eredivisie matches were won, the highest number to date. In that season, when the club also won the famed treble, PSV recorded a 2-0 victory in its 17th Eredivisie game visiting FC Den Bosch. Ronald Koeman and Wim Kieft, big names in the club's history, scored the goals at De Vliert.
Goal scoring record
With 56 goals scored in 16 games played, PSV's goal production this season is running at full speed. Head coach Peter Bosz 's formation managed to find the net at least twice in every game since a 0-1 win at Sparta Rotterdam on May 6. Previously, only Ajax managed to equalize (19), in 2012. Should PSV be on target against 'De Roodzwarten', the goal scoring record will come in its entirety.
Previous encounters
PSV won both last season's home and away game against Excelsior Rotterdam by large numbers. In the Van Donge & De Roo Stadium, PSV outclassed the team 6-1 and in the match at home the team was too strong 4-0. At the time, Luuk de Jong, Xavi Simons, Fábio Silva and Érick Gutiérrez took the hits. Only Luuk is still active as a PSV player.
Scoring strikers
Luuk (161) needs 1 more goal to match Cor van der Gijp (162) in spot 10 of the Eredivisie's all-time top scorer list. Leo van Veen occupies place 9 with 174. Of his high number of goals, the captain of PSV scored 120 in red and white. Only Willy van der Kuijlen (308) scored more Eredivisie goals for the club.
Nikolas Agrafiotis and Troy Parrott, with 5 goals, are Excelsior's top scorers in the current Eredivisie season. Parrott, a mercenary from England's Tottenham Hotspur FC, was favored over Agrafiotis in the last 6 games, scoring 2 goals.
Familiar faces
PSV midfielder Jerdy Schouten was a player for Excelsior in the 2018-2019 season, after which he transferred to Italian side Bologna FC. Last summer, he returned to the Netherlands as a PSV player, making him the sixth player to have worn the jersey of both clubs in the Eredivisie. Gino Coutinho, Adrian Fein, Daniel Guijo-Velasco, Carlo L'Ami and Jordy de Wijs preceded him.
