The day after the cup victory over SDC Putten, PSV has already set its sights on the league. At Stadion Galgenwaard, PSV will take on the well-performing FC Utrecht on Sunday at 12:30 pm. A duel that head coach Phillip Cocu is looking forward to. "These are the challenging matches, I'm looking forward to it," he said.
'Interesting confrontations'
In previous seasons, matches between PSV and FC Utrecht repeatedly turned into tactical duels between Cocu and FC Utrecht coach Erik ten Hag. "They have been very interesting confrontations in recent years," Cocu agreed. "One time we adjusted our system a bit, another time we chose to change some positions. Of course I'm not going to release anything about how we go into Sunday's game, but that we have to be sharp is clear. Utrecht has a good squad, with many talented players, and has shown good football. It will be an interesting match," thinks the head coach.
Pereiro development
Last season Gastón Pereiro was the match winner in Utrecht. As a substitute, he put the 1-2 final score on the board in the first game of the season. Since then, however, the Uruguayan failed to develop into an undisputed base player. "That he can play very good football, no one doubts that, but what he has not yet been able to get out of his game is his changeability," Cocu acknowledged. "Where he did develop tremendously, we see from his data, is the alternation in movement tempo. He has brought much more depth and tempo changes into his game. That translation should help him reduce his changeability."
PSV's selection, apart from injuries to Luuk Koopmans, Ramon Pascal Lundqvist and Luuk de Jong seems fit. Hirving Lozano returns from suspension.