Dutch Eredivisie, Round 32: Three Way Title Fight Is On

With just three rounds to go in the Eredivisie, the top three teams are separated by just one point. FC Twente appeared to be very much in the driver’s seat after their April 2nd defeat of PSV Eindhoven, but two straight 1-1 draws have brought them right back to the pack. They will be tested this week, along with PSV, while Ajax are very much the favorites in their match.

FC Twente vs. ADO Den Haag

Friday, 2:45 pm ET

ADO Den Haag are sitting in fifth place in Eredivisie and they’re very much in the race for UEFA Europa League. However, their chase for European football was recently complicated significantly, due to the fact that their goalkeeper owns a really big pot farm. The good news is, though Gino Coutinho may be in jail soon, their leading scorer Dmitry Bulykin should continue to play for ADO for the rest of the season. He has 18 league goals, and will make life tough for Twente.

Two weeks ago, Twente drew because of a missed penalty by Bryan Ruiz. Last week, they drew because of an 89th minute equalizer. While I don’t believe in luck, that’s some pretty crappy misfortune. It would be pretty shocking to see a team as good as Twente fail to beat an inferior team while they’re chasing the title for a third straight week, but I like trends. Why not?

Prediction: Twente 1-1 ADO

Ajax vs. Excelsior

Sunday, 8:30 am ET

Excelsior are third from the bottom, and if Ajax don’t win this game convincingly, they don’t deserve to win the title, or make the UEFA Champions League for that matter. Based on their recent form, Ajax should be able to take three points from this game. If Ajax win the league even after selling Luis Suarez, will Johan Cryuff calm the eff down?

Prediction: Ajax 3-0 Excelsior

Feyenoord Rotterdam vs. PSV Eindhoven

Sunday, 8:30 ET

If you want to see some bright young stars before they move on to greener pastures, give this game a look. Despite being loaded with great young players, Feyenoord are a very average side that don’t have any money. Despite that, the likes of Luc Castaignos, Georgino Wijnaldum, and Ryo Miyaichi in particular are fantastic, and they combined to drop six goals on Willem II last week.

However, Willem II are a really bad team, where as PSV are not a really bad team. Balázs Dzsudzsák continues to be arguably the best attacking player in Holland, and as entertaining as the young attackers are for Feyenoord, their defense is entirely average. PSV should be able to win, even on the road, and keep the pressure on their opponents in the title race.

Prediction: Feyenoord 1-2 PSV