Excelsior v PSV: Eredivisie Preview

PSV are playing an away match against Excelsior on Saturday evening in the Eredivisie. This pits the side that has won the Dutch league title for the past three years against the team that tops the Dutch league table after just one league match. The question is: can PSV bounce back after their 2-2 draw against Fortuna Sittard? Or can the Kralingers also cause PSV a lot of trouble? Here you can read everything you need to know about this Eredivisie match, complete with the best Excelsior v PSV predictions and betting tips.

Betting at Oranje Palace

Are you new to Oranje Palace? Then there’s a welcome bonus of 3 x €14 Free Bets waiting for you straight away. You’ll receive one Pre-match Free Bet, one Live Free Bet and one Bet Builder Free Bet. This way, you can get to know different ways of betting. Why not use your Free Bets during an exciting Eredivisie match, for example, or for a top-of-the-table clash in one of the major European leagues? Which match will be your first choice?

Excelsior v PSV preview

Do you remember PSV’s spectacular 5–4 victory over Excelsior last year? It showed that Excelsior can certainly give PSV a tough time. But will that be the case this season too? Here’s a brief look at both teams.

Current Form & Team News

Excelsior

Excelsior had the honour of playing the first match of the season this year. They did so in fine style, winning 4–0 away at newly promoted SC Cambuur last Friday. This followed an excellent pre-season, during which the Rotterdam side came out on top four times against teams from the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. The man of the match was Noah Naujoks. He scored twice, something he also managed to do last year against Ajax at the Johan Cruijff Arena. Will he finally make us forget Gyan de Regt, who has moved to Holstein Kiel?

PSV

PSV’s start to the season has been something of a turbulent one. Pre-season preparations were somewhat lacklustre, after which the Eindhoven side lost the Johan Cruijff Schaal match 0–4 to AZ Alkmaar. Against Fortuna Sittard, the team’s performance was nothing short of disastrous, particularly in the early stages. In the end, it was a very late goal from the Limburg side that levelled the score at 2–2, prompting an immediate rise in criticism of Peter Bosz. Will he completely shake up the line-up for the match against the league leaders? It is clear that Joey Veerman is returning from suspension, which should restore the balance in midfield.

Head-to-Head

We mentioned earlier PSV’s narrow 5–4 victory over Excelsior in the cup, but in reality the Brabanders have hardly any trouble with the side that usually struggles against relegation. PSV have won their last thirteen matches in the Eredivisie, many of them by a margin of several goals. Partly because of this, the Eindhoven side are the clear favourites.

Expected line-ups

Excelsior (4-2-3-1):

Van Gassel, Janssen, Plug, Meissen, Martens, Van Vianen, Hartjes, Silva Timas, Naujoks, Yegoian, Garden

PSV (4-2-3-1):

Kovar, Mauro Junior, Obispo, Flamingo, Perisic, Veerman, Fernandez, Van Bommel, Mijnans, Til, Pepi

Excelsior v PSV betting tips

Betting tip 1: PSV to win by a two-goal margin

As mentioned, PSV usually perform very well against Excelsior. For instance, the reigning league champions have won seven of their last eight Eredivisie matches against Excelsior by a margin of at least two goals. We think this will happen again and are going for a 3-way handicap of -1 for PSV. This gives you odds of 2.33.

Betting tip 2: Ricardo Pepi to have more than 1.5 shots on target

We have a lot of faith in Ricardo Pepi. The striker, who had expected more from the 2026 World Cup last summer, is still the champions’ number 9. We think he’ll come close to scoring a few times, or even find the net. If only because the former FC Groningen striker has scored three times in his last three matches against Excelsior. If Ricardo Pepi has more than 1.5 shots on target, you’ll get odds of 1.90.

Excelsior v PSV Prediction

Final score: Excelsior – PSV 1–3
We expect a comfortable win for PSV. It looks set to be a tough match, of course, but we’ve seen time and again in recent years that PSV are simply a class above their opponents. We’re therefore predicting a comfortable 3–1 victory.