Giovanni van Bronckhorst |

Will Burns makes his return with three selections for this opening weekend of Eredivisie action.

PSV vs. FC Utrecht

Saturday, 19:45

We witnessed major change in Eindhoven this past summer as manager Philip Cocu left to take on a new challenge in Turkey with Fenerbahçe. He was replaced by former team-mate Marc van Bommel despite a lack of experience at this level. Last weekend, Van Bommel’s debut did get off to a good start losing on penalties to rivals Feyenoord as the Rotterdammers lifted the Johan Cruyff Schaal.

This weekend, Van Bommel begins the quest to retain the Eredivisie title against FC Utrecht and he will be encouraged by the talent he has inherited in the PSV squad. A major plus over the summer is the decision of Mexican superstar Hirving Lozano to stay in Eindhoven despite impressing at the World Cup in Russia and attraction attention from some major clubs across Europe.

De Boeren have seen success in 21 of their last 22 home matches against Utrecht in all competitions and I predict more the same on Saturday evening with plenty of goals. Utrecht saw masses of goal action on their travels last season, but specifically in 2018 so far as they have seen over 2.5 goals in their last eight away games.

PSV have notched at least two goals in nine of their last 10 games against Utrecht and with attacking talents like Lozano, Luuk de Jong and Steven Bergwijn at their disposal I feel getting on PSV on the handicap is the best bet in this one.

Recommended Bet: PSV -1 Asian Handicap – £10 on at 2.20 to win £22.00 at Paddy Power

De Graafschap vs. Feyenoord

Sunday, 13:30

Feyenoord were hammered four goals without reply by Slovakian underdogs AS Trenčín on Thursday night and it will not get any easier when they travel to Doetinchem to face Eredivisie new boys De Graafschap.

An embarrassing defeat in European qualification has not provided Giovanni van Bronckhorst with the best preparation for the new Eredivisie season. The former Arsenal and Celtic man has to contend with the absences of summer signing Yassin Ayoub and last season’s top scorer Nicolai Jörgensen too which will hamper their creation going forward.

De Graafschap will see this as an excellent opportunity to claim a huge scalp and defeat the Rotterdam giants, who start with the inexperienced 20-year-old Justin Bijlow in goal, and they may just have one eye on Thursday’s night return game against Trenčín.

Taking all this into account, the home fans at the Stadion De Vijverberg could be celebrating on Sunday afternoon. It’s long odds but I placing a bet on De Graafschap Draw No Bet at 3/1 is worth a punt.

Recommended Bet: De Graafschap Draw No Bet – £10 on at 4.00 to win £40.00 at 888Sport

Vitesse Arnhem vs. FC Groningen

Sunday, 13:30

Vitesse Arnhem are already three weeks into their new campaign due to the qualifying stages of the Europa League. Leonid Slutsky’s side have successfully dispatched Romania outfit FC Viitorul 5-3 on aggregate and were defeated 1-0 by FC Basel on Thursday night in their first leg of the third round of qualification.

Their opponents on Sunday, FC Groningen head into their first competitive game which surely gives the hosts the advantage, however Vitesse will see the second leg against Basel vitally important financially and may have thoughts elsewhere on Sunday afternoon. Groningen have become draw specialists after claiming just a point in five of their last six away league games and four of those games finished 1-1.

New manager Danny Buijs will be very pleased if his side can leave the Gelredome with a point on the opening weekend and I see that as the most likely result.

Recommended Bet: Draw – £10 on at 4.20 to win £42.00 at Betfair

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TotalDutchFootball.com

With Fred Rutten leaving Feyenoord before the end of the season, and before the crucial Europa League play-offs, its leaves the great Rotterdam side in a sorry state of affairs despite finishing fourth in the league writes Max Griffin.

After crunch talks with Martin van Geel, the clubs sporting director, Rutten and the club have decided to part ways. Meaning they go into the crucial play-offs manager-less and in very poor form, three losses and two draws in their last five games to be exact meaning AZ pipped them to the crucial third spot and an automatic Europa League place – it’s also the first time they’ve finished outside the top three since the 2010/11 season where they finished tenth.

It’s not exactly surprising that the club have had an indifferent season this term, with them deciding to sell five key players in the summer. This included 23-goal striker Graziano Pelle and Dutch international right-back Daryl Janmaat without adequate replacements coming in to reinforce the squad. This made them unable to compete for the title, something they had the basis to do with the squad that finished the 13/14 season (other key players sold in the summer: Bruno Martins Indi, Stefan de Vrij and Ruud Vormer).

If they do manage to qualify for Europa League, even though they are some way off yet with Heerenveen and either PEC Zwolle or Vitesse standing in their way, it would merely be a consolation prize from a season largely filled with disappointment.

With rumours already beginning about key players at the club such as Jordy Clasie, Tonny Trindade de Vilhena and Lex Immers wanting moves away from the club to pastures new, the squad at De Kuip could be left with big gaps, and players such as captain Clasie will be hard to replace.

With last summer’s recruitment not going entirely to plan, the club left themselves worse for wear and it has affected them this season. Most notably at the start of the season where they managed only five points from their first six games, patches like this one and their most recent wobble where they have lost three games in five are why they have struggled to finish fourth.

With the inexperienced Giovanni van Bronckhorst now took over and rumours of major exits this summer, it is down to the board to get it right with their summer business, if not another poor season surely awaits the club, creating further unrest in the stands.

The signs are that things could be getting worse for Feyenoord before they get better. If things are not sorted out quickly by the board, starting with the crunch match with Heerenveen on Thursday where a loss could see the side without European football for the first time in three years, something a club of their stature would expect every season. If the board don’t get things right, could a repeat of the 2010/11 season where the club finished tenth be on the cards?

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