The first ever meeting between PSV and FC Midtjylland ended in a convincing win. The return awaits on Tuesday in the Danish town of Herning. A review of the matches so far.
Strong season start
Since the start of the season, PSV has played four official matches. The diptych with Galatasaray SK, the first meeting with FC Midtjylland and the battle for the Johan Cruijff Schaal with Ajax. All matches were won, and most of them convincingly. PSV thus maintains a goal difference of fourteen goals scored and only two goals against in these four matches. With another win over the Danes, PSV is looking at a nice statistic. The last time the first five games of the season were won was in the 2014-2015 football season, in which PSV became champions of the Eredivisie.
Potential opponent
If PSV manages to hold their own against FC Midtjylland, the playoffs for the group stage of the Champions League await. In them, if PSV goes through, they will be played against the winner of the duel between Spartak Moscow and Benfica. The Portuguese have the advantage here. They won the first game with the Russians 0-2.
FC Midtjylland recovers
After four games, the Danish opponent is in fourth place in the league, one point behind leaders Randers FC. FC Midtjylland has overcome the loss and recovered in the league. In the MCH Arena, where PSV visits, they won 4-1 against Vejle Boldklub.
Eredivisie experience
The Danish opponent's selection includes the necessary Eredivisie experience. Daniel Høegh and Anders Dreyer have both worn the blue-and-white of sc Heerenveen and Mikael Anderson has made minutes in the shirt of Excelsior. Høegh has the most experience on Dutch fields. The latter has played against PSV four times before with the Frisians.
Top form Madueke
The first prize of the season is already in the cupboard at PSV. Ajax was defeated 0-4 for the Johan Cruijff Schaal. The match had many standouts, but the main star was Noni Madueke, who made the difference with two goals. In four games, the young Englishman stands at four goals and an assist. Voetbal International wrote an extensive analysis about his talents and the roles of Mario Götze, Eran Zahavi and Marco van Ginkel, among others. The article can be read here.
Minutemen
This season, there can usually be five substitutions during matches. Usually head coach Roger Schmidt makes full use of this, but there are two players who so far have not had to clear the field for a teammate a single time. That goalkeeper Joël Drommel is one of those two should come as no surprise. The other player who has not yet seen his number on the fourth official's board is André Ramalho. The defender has so far played all games from start to finish.
Top scorers' chance
The Champions League qualifying round currently has four shared top scorers, all with four goals. Just below them are PSV'ers Eran Zahavi and Mario Götze with three goals. Both currently have excellent statistics to their names. In the first four games of the season, Zahavi accounted for three goals and four assists, Götze for four goals and one assist.
