Eredivisie matchday 12 preview: Twente v Ajax, Feyenoord at Heerenveen without St. Juste, Cambuur v PSV

Two points cover the top four before matchday 12, and two of them meet on Sunday: fourth-placed Twente, who won 9–0 at Excelsior last weekend, host second-placed Ajax at De Grolsch Veste. Before that, leaders Feyenoord, still unbeaten in the league, go to Heerenveen without Jeremiah St. Juste and five days after a 3–0 home defeat by Inter. PSV, level with Twente on 23, visit Cambuur in the afternoon. The round opens on Friday night in Tilburg, where bottom side Willem II host PEC Zwolle in Jurgen Streppel's second match back in charge.

Friday

Willem II v PEC Zwolle (19:00 UTC, Koning Willem II Stadion). Willem II, bottom on two points, are the only side without a win, have lost their last five league matches and have conceded 39, the most in the division. Streppel, who was at the club from 2011 to 2016, succeeded the sacked John Stegeman last week, Voetbal International reports; his first match was the 7–0 defeat at PSV. PEC, fourteenth on eleven, beat ADO Den Haag 1–0 with D. Mbayo's goal on 45. PEC won 2–1 here in May 2025; Willem II won 1–0 in Zwolle in December 2024.

Saturday

Fortuna Sittard v Telstar (15:30 UTC, Fortuna Sittard Stadion). Fortuna Sittard, sixth on 19, drew 1–1 at Feyenoord with S. 't Zand's goal on 86 and have lost two of eleven. Telstar, sixteenth on nine, beat Utrecht 4–2. Telstar won 4–1 here in March; Fortuna won 3–1 at Telstar in September 2025.

ADO Den Haag v Sparta Rotterdam (17:45 UTC, Bingoal Stadion). ADO Den Haag, seventeenth on six, lost 1–0 at PEC Zwolle and have one win all season. Sparta Rotterdam, eleventh on twelve, won 3–2 at Groningen with A. Kostić's goal on 85. Their last competitive meeting was in the cup in December 2023, a 2–0 ADO win here; Sparta have won the two clubs' last two friendlies, both 2–0.

Excelsior v Go Ahead Eagles (20:00 UTC, Van Donge & De Roo Stadion). Excelsior, fifteenth on eleven, lost 9–0 at home to Twente after a red card on five minutes and have lost their last four league matches. Go Ahead Eagles, tenth on 14, lost 4–0 at Cambuur; S. Tengstedt shares the lead in the scorers with eight. Go Ahead have won the last three meetings, 1–0 here in March, 2–0 in Deventer in October 2025 and 3–0 there in March 2024.

Sunday

Heerenveen v Feyenoord (11:15 UTC, Abe Lenstra Stadion). Heerenveen, seventh on 18, beat NEC 1–0 with D. Vente's goal and have won four of their last five. Feyenoord, top on 25 with seven wins and four draws, drew 1–1 with Fortuna, L. Valente scoring on 59, and then lost 3–0 to Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday. St. Juste, out with a shin injury, will not be back before the international break, Giovanni van Bronckhorst said, NOS reports, and Jakub Moder was still missing for the Inter match. Van Bronckhorst said Sunday was "another chance to win a difficult match". The meeting here in January finished 2–2; Heerenveen won 3–2 in Rotterdam in the cup in December 2025, and Feyenoord 1–0 at home in September 2025.

Twente v Ajax (13:30 UTC, De Grolsch Veste). Twente, fourth on 23, won 9–0 at Excelsior with four goals from W. Weghorst, who now has eight, and have conceded ten, the fewest in the division. They are also in Conference League action on Thursday, NOS reports. Ajax, second on 24, beat AZ 1–0 with T. Arokodare's goal on 9, but Julian Brandt and Sofyan Amrabat are injured and miss Thursday's Conference League match at Midtjylland, NOS reports. Twente won 2–1 in Amsterdam in April; Ajax won 3–2 here in October 2025.

Cambuur v PSV (15:45 UTC, Kooi Stadion). Cambuur, ninth on 15, beat Go Ahead Eagles 4–0 and are unbeaten in five league matches. PSV, third on 23, beat Willem II 7–0 and have scored 35, the most in the division. Peter Bosz said on Tuesday that Ricardo Pepi, among the scorers against Willem II, is fit enough to start, Voetbal International reports, while Paul Wanner is not expected back until after the international break. They last met in March 2023, a 5–2 PSV win in Eindhoven; Cambuur won 3–0 here in October 2022.

AZ v Groningen (15:45 UTC, AFAS Stadion). AZ, fifth on 20, lost 1–0 at Ajax and have won one of their last five league matches. Groningen, eighth on 15, lost 3–2 at home to Sparta; B. Willumsson has eight goals. Groningen won 3–0 at home in March; AZ won 4–1 here in August 2025 and 3–0 here in May 2025.

Utrecht v NEC (19:00 UTC, Stadion Galgenwaard). Utrecht, twelfth on twelve, lost 4–2 at Telstar and have conceded 31, the second most. NEC, thirteenth on eleven, lost 1–0 at Heerenveen after four draws in a row. Utrecht won 3–1 in Nijmegen in February and 1–0 here in November 2025; NEC won 1–0 here in March 2025.

The table before the round

#	Team	P	GD	Pts
1	Feyenoord	11	+21	25
2	Ajax	11	+17	24
3	PSV	11	+22	23
4	Twente	11	+18	23
5	AZ	11	+7	20
6	Fortuna Sittard	11	0	19
7	Heerenveen	11	+6	18
8	Groningen	11	+2	15
…
15	Excelsior	11	−12	11
16	Telstar	11	−7	9
17	ADO Den Haag	11	−11	6
18	Willem II	11	−29	2

Feyenoord lead Ajax by a point and PSV and Twente by two, so Sunday's match in Enschede and Feyenoord's trip to Friesland can reshape the top four. At the bottom, Willem II are four points behind ADO.

Numbers to know

• W. Weghorst, S. Tengstedt and B. Willumsson lead the scorers with eight goals each.
• Feyenoord are the only unbeaten side; Willem II the only one without a win.
• PSV have scored 35, the most; Willem II ten, the fewest.
• Twente have conceded ten, the fewest; Willem II 39, the most.
• Feyenoord, Ajax, PSV and Twente are separated by two points after eleven matches.

The full round with kick-off times in your time zone is on the Eredivisie page.

Sources for the context: NOS, NOS, NOS, Voetbal International, Voetbal International.