Eredivisie Tips: PSV to stay perfect as AZ and Ajax trade blows

AZ Alkmaar and Ajax were week one's most convincing winners

Michael Lintorn offers the best bets for this weekend's Eredivisie TV games, including AZ Alkmaar v Ajax...

PSV v NAC Breda
Saturday, 17:30
Live on Sky Sports 5

Match Odds: PSV 1.222/9, NAC Breda 17.5n/a, The Draw 7.413/2

PSV's 2014 to date
2013/14 saw PSV fail to win the title for a sixth straight season and choke having assumed top spot for the fifth in a row. The positive was that at least the collapse came early this time, a seven-match winless run from October making it clear early that glory would elude them. 2014 was consequently less gloomy: PSV closed last term with ten wins in 13 and are on course to retain key players like Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay, while they added proven Eredivisie scorer Luuk de Jong.

NAC Breda's 2014 to date
With PSV shunning their traditional end-of-season capitulation in 2013/14, NAC Breda auditioned for the role of basket cases instead by ejecting themselves from the top-half security of ninth to the relegation peril of 15th by virtue of an 11-game victory-free finish. It was their lowest rank in eight years and a troubling transfer window in which several players departed to be replaced by either unproven or unremarkable talent hints at another struggle ahead.

The Best Bet
NAC Breda are disturbingly light up front, a situation that hasn't been anywhere near sufficiently remedied this summer. They haven't won away to a top-four club since 2008 and didn't even claim a point at one over the past two years, firing six blanks on the way to eight defeats. They haven't netted at the Philips Stadion on three successive pointless visits, so the PSV win to nil appeals.

Recommended Bet: Back PSV to win to nil @ 2.166/5

AZ Alkmaar v Ajax
Sunday, 11:30
Live on Sky Sports 5

Match Odds: AZ Alkmaar 3.412/5, Ajax 2.265/4, The Draw 3.613/5

AZ Alkmaar's 2014 to date
For the second season running, AZ Alkmaar finished way behind the top four (eighth), and there has been upheaval since. Marco van Basten succeeds Dick Advocaat as coach having outperformed them in his two campaigns at Heerenveen, while Nick Viergever (Ajax), Roy Beerens (Hertha Berlin) and Johann Berg Gudmondsson (Charlton) left. The latter exit, alongside top scorer Aron Johannsson's ankle injury, was expected to limit their scoring potential, yet they won their opener 3-0 at Heracles.

Ajax's 2014 to date
Frank de Boer's Ajax are the masters of regeneration. They have survived the loss of Luis Suarez, Maarten Stekelenburg, Gregory van der Wiel, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen this decade to keep winning and, judging by last week's impressive 4-1 triumph over a strong Vitesse side, Siem de Jong will be the latest example of gone and swiftly forgotten. The four-peating champions are unbeaten in 23 Eredivisie encounters now, and have prevailed in 16 of those.

The Best Bet
Over 2.5 goals has been a profit-producing punt in six of AZ Alkmaar and Ajax's last seven Eredivisie battles for regional bragging rights, with the previous two at the AFAS Stadium seeing the pair trade 3-2 wins. There were also three goals or more in each team's league season-starters last week.

Recommended Bet: Back over 2.5 goals @ 1.768/11