Eredivisie matchday 8 preview: Feyenoord v AZ for first place, PSV open against Heerenveen

The Eredivisie returns from its break with first against second. AZ, six wins and a draw, go to Feyenoord, five wins and two draws, at De Kuip on Saturday evening: a Feyenoord win puts them top, and a draw keeps AZ two points clear of them. PSV and Twente, both on 16, are three points off the top. PSV open the round on Friday at home to Heerenveen; Twente go to Fortuna Sittard on Saturday. At the bottom, the two clubs still without a win, Willem II and ADO Den Haag, both play away on Sunday.

Friday

PSV v Heerenveen (18:00 UTC, Philips Stadion). PSV are third on 16 points after losing 3–2 at Twente, a match they led at half-time; Heerenveen, tenth on nine, won 4–0 at Sparta. PSV have won the last four meetings — 3–1 here in February, 4–1 in the cup in the same month, 2–0 at Heerenveen in December and 2–1 here in March 2025 — while Heerenveen won 1–0 at home in December 2024. Peter Bosz expects Alassane Pléa, who has had an operation, not to play again this calendar year, Voetbal International reports, and NOS lists Ricardo Pepi, Paul Wanner and Lutsharel Geertruida as recently injured.

Saturday

Go Ahead Eagles v Sparta Rotterdam (14:30 UTC, De Adelaarshorst). Go Ahead Eagles are ninth on ten, with four draws in seven; Sparta Rotterdam, twelfth on five, lost 4–0 at home to Heerenveen. The last meeting was 2–2 in Rotterdam in May; Sparta won 3–0 in Deventer in August 2025, Go Ahead 1–0 there in February 2025.

Feyenoord v AZ (16:45 UTC, Stadion Feijenoord). The two unbeaten sides. Feyenoord have scored 25, the most in the division, and beat Utrecht 5–0 last time out; AZ have conceded six, the fewest, and beat Telstar 1–0. Feyenoord are unbeaten in the last five meetings: 1–1 here in May, 3–3 in Alkmaar in September 2025, 1–0 there in April 2025, 3–2 here in November 2024 and 2–0 in the cup in February 2024. Danny Makkelie referees. Anis Hadj Moussa came back from Algeria with a light injury, NOS reports, and Tsuyoshi Watanabe went off hurt in a friendly against Venezuela; VI's Martijn Krabbendam says both seem available. AZ's Kees Smit was injured in the warm-up before a Jong Oranje match on Tuesday, and VI says the extent is not known.

Fortuna Sittard v Twente (18:00 UTC, Fortuna Sittard Stadion). Fortuna Sittard, sixth on 13, won 1–0 at Willem II; Twente, fourth on 16, came from behind to beat PSV with goals on 79 and 83 minutes. Twente are unbeaten in the last five meetings, with four wins, and won their last two visits to Sittard 2–1, in March and in November 2024.

Ajax v NEC (19:00 UTC, Johan Cruijff Arena). Ajax are fifth on 14 after a 2–2 with Excelsior in which they had 81 per cent of the ball and 33 shots; NEC, eleventh on eight, drew 1–1 with Go Ahead Eagles. Ajax have won one of the last five meetings, 2–1 at NEC in December 2024, and none of the last three in Amsterdam: 1–1 in February, 0–3 in May 2025 and 2–2 in February 2024. Ajax are without Kasper Dolberg, who has had knee ligament surgery and will probably miss the rest of the season, NOS reports; NEC's Bram Nuytinck is to have an ankle operation next week.

Sunday

Utrecht v Willem II (10:15 UTC, Stadion Galgenwaard). Utrecht, fifteenth on five, have conceded 24, the most in the division, and lost 5–0 at Feyenoord; Willem II are bottom on two with six goals scored. Utrecht won the last two meetings, both 3–2, in March 2025 at Willem II and in September 2024 here.

Telstar v ADO Den Haag (12:30 UTC, BUKO Stadion). Telstar, thirteenth on five, have scored five goals, the fewest in the division; ADO, seventeenth on two, drew 1–1 with Cambuur. They met twice in May 2025, and Telstar won both, 2–0 at home and 1–0 in The Hague.

PEC Zwolle v Cambuur (12:30 UTC). PEC Zwolle, sixteenth on four, lost 3–0 at Groningen and have conceded 20; Cambuur are fourteenth on five. Their last league meeting was in February 2022, a 4–3 win for PEC in Leeuwarden; Cambuur had won 2–1 in Zwolle in November 2021.

Excelsior v Groningen (14:45 UTC, Stadion Woudestein). Seventh against eighth, both on eleven. Excelsior drew 2–2 at Ajax with four shots; Groningen beat PEC Zwolle 3–0. Excelsior won 3–2 in Groningen in May; Groningen won 2–0 here in December.

The table before the round

#	Team	P	GD	Pts
1	AZ	7	+12	19
2	Feyenoord	7	+18	17
3	PSV	7	+14	16
4	Twente	7	+8	16
5	Ajax	7	+12	14
6	Fortuna Sittard	7	−1	13
…
15	Utrecht	7	−13	5
16	PEC Zwolle	7	−14	4
17	ADO Den Haag	7	−10	2
18	Willem II	7	−14	2

PSV play first and can draw level with AZ on Friday night. Four clubs, Sparta, Telstar, Cambuur and Utrecht, are on five points.

Numbers to know

• G. Zechiël and A. Hadj-Moussa of Feyenoord, S. Tengstedt of Go Ahead Eagles and Artem Stepanov of Utrecht have five league goals each.
• Feyenoord's goal difference of +18 is the best in the division; Willem II's and PEC Zwolle's −14 the worst.
• AZ and Feyenoord are the only unbeaten clubs; Willem II and ADO Den Haag the only ones without a win.
• Telstar have scored five goals in seven matches, Willem II and PEC Zwolle six each.

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

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