This weekend the Eredivisie kicks off. In the season opener, Heracles Almelo is PSV's opponent. A team PSV has good numbers against. A brief preview.
Meetings
The number of meetings between the two teams stands at 41. Two of those matches ended in a win for Heracles Almelo, seven in a draw and 32 in a win for PSV. No team in the Eredivisie has won more often against Heracles Almelo than PSV.
Season opener
It is the third time PSV has played the kickoff of the Dutch football year against the team from Overijssel. The previous time was in the 2007-2008 season. There, too, the first round of play was in Almelo. PSV took three points right away, winning 0-2.
Busy start
Despite the fact that the Eredivisie has yet to start, PSV has already played five official matches. Four Champions League qualifiers and the battle for the Johan Cruijff Schaal. All of those matches were won. The last time PSV experienced such a rush before the Eredivisie season had started was in 1973, when the UEFA Intertoto Cup still existed and PSV was part of it.
Practice phase
Heracles Almelo has not been idle in its season preparations with a dozen or so practice matches. The results of the duels were mixed, but it is notable that the Overijssel squad practiced against one of the same teams as PSV, namely PAOK FC. Thanks to a goal by Noni Madueke, PSV won the encounter with the Greeks. For Heracles Almelo it ended differently, namely in a 1-2 loss.
Biggest victories
Many matches against the Almelo club remarkably end in narrow victories. Yet, there are two occasions when PSV returned to Eindhoven with big numbers. In the 2018-2019 season, PSV won 0-4 through goals by Steven Bergwijn, Daniel Schwaab, Denzel Dumfries and Gastòn Pereiro. In the 2012-2013 season, the result was 1-5, through goals by Tim Matavs, Jeremain Lens, Dries Mertens and two by Georginio Wijnaldum.
50 years between losses
Only twice did Heracles Almelo manage to win against PSV. The first time was in 1964, when the club still existed under the name SC Heracles '74. The other victory dates back to 2015. More than fifty years later.
KNVB Cup
Heracles made it to the final of the KNVB Cup once in its club history and in it PSV was the opponent. On April 8, 2012, the Eindhoveners were too strong 3-0 through goals by Ola Toivonen, Dries Mertens and Jeremain Lens.