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Despite the national side assuring qualification for Euro 2008, life goes on in Dutch football. With the small matter of winning the league far from being resolved this early in the season, we’re in for an exciting three days of Eredivisie action.

In case you forgot, the Netherlands' Big Three are packed within a single point at the top of the table, with the two of them facing tricky away ties.
Ajax, the only unbeaten side in the competition, and leading scorers with 33 goals in 11 games, are at home to Vitesse on Sunday afternoon. The Johan Cruyff Schaal and Dutch Cup holders will be looking to build on a string of positive results, and they'll also be determined to avenge a heavy 4-2 defeat in Arnhem last December.
However, Adrie Koster faces a lengthy list of casualties once again, with Edgar Davids, Leonardo, Edgar Manucharyan, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Delorge and Nicolae Mitea all out.
The injury crisis did have a silver lining for two Ajax youngsters, as Gregory Van Der Wiel and Siem De Jong will probably be rewarded with professional contracts.
Former Ajax coach Aad De Mos has a few problems of his own, as he's unable to count on Theo Janssen, Cees Keizer and Anduele Pryor. Remco Van Der Schaaf is a doubt, but the big news is Michael Jansen’s possible return to action after two-and-a-half years out with a heart condition. The 23-year-old defender last took the field against none other than Ajax, way back on May 15, 2005.

Joint-leaders on 25 points Feyenoord visit Groningen in their first road game after three at De Kuip the last of which ended in a disappointing 2-2 draw with their old enemies from Amsterdam. No team has won more games in the league this season than Bert Van Marwijk’s men, who now take on a side that humiliated them on each and every occasion last year.
The Boeren won both their games with Feyenoord in the regular season by impressive scorelines (3-0 at home, 4-0 away) and went on to knock them out of the play-offs for a UEFA Cup berth as well! However, Feyenoord gained some measure of revenge, beating Groningen 3-1 on the 1st of November in their Cup duel.
Van Marwijk will most certainly field an under-strength side yet again: Michael Mols is suspended and no fewer than seven players (Luigi Bruins, Ron Vlaar, Nicky Hofs, Tim Vincken, Sherif Ekramy, Jacob Lensky, Dwight Tiendalli) are injured. As if that wasn’t enough, the 55-year-old coach will sweat on the fitness of Danny Buijs, Theo Lucius and Chun-Soo Lee.
As for the hosts, they’re on a low at the moment with a home draw and three away defeats - two of them by a heavy 5-1 margin - in their last four outings/ They will likely line-up without Paul Mathijs, Marnix Kolder, Arnold Kruiswijk and Shkodran Metaj.
On Saturday evening PSV Eindhoven will have the chance to reclaim top spot, at least for a few hours, as they visit Excelsior Rotterdam. To do that, however, they’ll have to record their first victory under Jan Wouters, the only coach in their history who hasn’t won any of his first three matches in charge.
Eredivisie winners for the past three seasons in a row, they share the league’s best defence (just six goals in 11 games) with Twente, but they’ve lost three out of their four last away ties.
Furthermore, Timmy Simons, Tommie Van Der Leegte, Ismail Aissati, Manuel Da Costa and John De Jong won’t be playing, whereas Jason Culina and Ibrahim Afellay are doubts as well.
On the other hand Wouters, who’ll keep his place up until New Year’s Day, may count on the services of Danko Lazovic, the Serb having been allowed to leave the national side’s camp since Saturday’s match with Kazakhstan is now of little importance.

Leen Van Steensel, Damien Hertog and Eldridge Rojer will be missing due to injuries, while Rene Van Dieren is not yet match-fit for the Kralingers.
Level on 18 points and just outside the top-five NAC Breda and Roda take on each other later on Friday. As the battle for two remaining places in the UEFA Champions League qualification play-offs heats up Heerenveen host De Graafschap and Twente play bottom side Sparta in Rotterdam.
Having significantly improved over the past month, AZ host Willem II, while the Utrecht – NEC game will largely determine those sides’ Eredivisie ambitions this season. Saturday evening also sees a possible relegation six-pointer as 17th-placed Heracles take on 15th-placed Venlo.


source:Goal.com