PSV Eindhoven host PEC Zwolle at Philips Stadion on Thursday in Eredivisie round 31, with the champions already assured of a 27th top-flight crown but still trying to steady their form before the season runs out. PSV beat Sparta Rotterdam 2-0 in their previous league match, a result that stretched their lead at the top to 19 points after Feyenoord drew with NEC.
That win gave PSV their first clean sheet since February’s 3-0 victory over Feyenoord, and they are now looking for consecutive Eredivisie shutouts for the first time in 2026. The title is secure, but the line between a comfortable finish and a sloppy one has been exposed since PSV were knocked out 3-2 by NEC in the KNVB Beker semi-finals. They have lost two of their three league matches since then, even if one of those came in a wild 4-3 comeback against FC Utrecht, when Couhaib Driouech scored in the 94th minute after PSV had trailed 2-0.
PEC Zwolle arrive with a very different target. They are 13th, nine points clear of the automatic relegation places and seven points above 16th-placed Telstar in the play-off spot, so a positive result would secure their safety. Yet the numbers in this fixture are grim: Zwolle have lost nine of the last 10 meetings with PSV since December 2019, with their only win in that span coming in last season’s match in Zwolle. They have not won at Philips Stadion since January 2013, when they took a 3-1 victory and ended a wait that has now stretched across 13 years.
PSV will be without Paul Wanner, who is suspended after picking up a yellow card against Sparta, while Alassane Plea, Ruben van Bommel and Jerdy Schouten are injured. Ismael Saibari, who was withdrawn late against Sparta on April 11, will be assessed, and Sergino Dest could make his first appearance since early March after a hamstring injury. Saibari has 15 goals, Guus Til 13 and Ricardo Pepi 11, giving PSV enough firepower to test a Zwolle side missing goalkeeper Jasper Schendelaar to a thigh injury. Shola Shoretire will be assessed because of a knee injury, while Jamiro Monteiro and Samir Lagsir are also under evaluation due to muscle complaints.
For PSV, the bigger question is whether the calm of a clinched title can finally translate into control again; for Zwolle, it is whether a trip to the league’s toughest away ground can settle the season before the table does it for them.
