PSV starts the new year with a home match against Excelsior Rotterdam. After a short winter break and a training camp in Estepona, Spain, Peter Bosz 's team resumes the league on Saturday night against the Kralingers. It will be Excelsior's 25th visit to the Philips Stadium. In addition, PSV has not lost to Excelsior for 41 years.
PSV and Excelsior have faced each other 24 times before in Eindhoven. PSV won twenty times, three encounters ended in a draw and only once did it go wrong. In those matches, PSV scored 84 times and conceded 13 goals. That means an average of 3.5 goals in favor and 0.5 against per match.
Recent encounters
The last encounters in Eindhoven in the VriendenLoterij Eredivisie were also clearly in PSV's favor. In 2018, the team won 6-0, followed by a 4-0 victory in 2023. The most recent confrontation in the league, almost exactly two years ago on Jan. 13, 2024, ended in a 3-1 win for PSV. Luuk de Jong was the big man that night with a hat-trick. The away game in September last year was also won: PSV decided the encounter at Excelsior only in the closing stages and took the points back to Eindhoven with a 1-2 victory.
Excelsior
Excelsior ended the calendar year with three wins and two defeats in the last five matches. In late November, the Kralingers recorded another handsome 1-2 win at Ajax, followed by a 1-0 victory over NAC Breda. The last game of the year was a 2-1 win over PEC Zwolle, giving Excelsior nineteen points as number twelve going into the winter break.
The Rotterdammers are five points above the relegation line and have played one game less than the competition.
The team of coach Ruben den Uil won six matches in the first half of the season, drew once and suffered ten defeats. Scoring remains a concern; with sixteen goals, Excelsior is the least productive team in the Eredivisie, together with NAC Breda. By comparison, PSV is the most scoring team in the league with 52 goals.
41 years unbeaten
PSV has been unbeaten against Excelsior for 41 years. The last defeat dates from May 27, 1985, when the Kralingers were too strong 2-0 in Rotterdam. Excelsior's very first victory over PSV was on October 30, 1971. Back then, the team from Rotterdam won 1-2 at the Philips Stadium.
PSV absentees
PSV cannot yet call on Anass Salah-Edine, Ismael Saibari and Adamo Nagalo against Excelsior. The trio are in Morocco due to the Africa Cup. Anass and Ismael are already assured of a place in the quarterfinals by winning 1-0 against Tanzania. Adamo stranded on Tuesday with Burkina Faso in the eighth finals after a 3-0 defeat against Ivory Coast and will not be part of tomorrow's matchday squad.