Opponent Excelsior has been coached since this season by former PSV player Mitchell van der Gaag (45). He comes from the PSV youth academy and played 44 games in the main squad from 1992 to 1995.
Reinforcement
Van der Gaag, whose second half of the season is entirely focused on maintaining, has seen Warner Hahn strengthen his squad in the winter break. The goalkeeper has recovered from a serious knee injury and is rented from Feyenoord.
In the practice match against Ajax at the conclusion of the training camp in Portugal, Hahn started straight away. And not without success: Excelsior won 3-1 and will travel to Eindhoven with some confidence.
Number 15 again?
The Kralingers can use that confidence, because after a strong start to the season in which Excelsior was in the left row for some time, they have now dropped to fifteenth place. Excelsior also finished in that position the past two seasons.
While PSV has the most clean sheets in the Eredivisie (9), Excelsior is struggling to keep their goal clean. For fifteen games in a row, tonight's opponent has had to deal with at least one goal.