‘A Fantastic Two-Leg Game In Prospect’
- A view on Leicester City vs. PSV Eindhoven from Football Oranje journalist Michael Statham
- The sides meet in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday
- Statham analysed PSV’s Europa Conference League record and identified where their key threats lie
- The outcome of the first leg could be crucial heading into the reverse fixture in Holland
Leicester City Stadium is the venue for the first leg of the last-eight tie taking place on Thursday evening (8pm BST kick-off), with a semi-final against either Roma or Bodø/Glimt up for grabs for the winners.
Focusing on the visitors to Filbert Way, PSV, Statham believes their results in previous knockout rounds of the competition demonstrate where their strengths and weaknesses lie. The Dutch outfit scored eight goals across their two meetings with Copenhagen, but also conceded four in the opening leg of the last-16 match.
“It’s going to be a fantastic two-leg game,” he told LCFC Radio’s Matchday Live show. “PSV and Leicester are quite evenly matched on paper, but PSV have some great attacking players and I think it will be end-to-end and both legs will have lots of goals.
“They’ve been a bit leaky. They don’t have as strong a defence as Ajax when they are playing at their best and, coming into this, you need to be physically strong; you need to be really quick against a Premier League side. I’m looking forward to seeing how PSV can handle that.
“While that is a problem, I do think their attacking players will be effective and that’s why I think it will be so close. They have some big-name players, but the goalkeeper (Joël Drommel) is still quite young, defenders have been in and out of the team because the manager likes a lot of rotation, so it feels like a settled back four hasn’t really been a thing this season.”
Assessing the threats Boeren possess at the top end of the pitch, Statham pointed to Germany’s 2014 World Cup winner Mario Götze as one of the key cogs in their system and an experienced player with the ability to win a game on his own.
He is not the only star within their ranks, however, with several young talents making a name for themselves as part of Roger Schmidt’s attack-minded team, who have scored 71 goals in 28 league matches so far this term.
“The main player is Mario Götze,” the journalist explained. “He’s reigniting his career with PSV and he is magic on the ball. He’ll play behind the striker as an attacking midfielder and will pull the strings. Noni Madueke is a quick and tricky right winger who likes his left foot but can pull defenders both ways.
“He’s had some injury problems and just come back but PSV might need that pace. Possibly the best player is Cody Gakpo. He’s a massive talent. A Dutch international and one of the best in the Eredivisie, he plays on the left wing and likes to play on his right foot and cross the ball. He also loves a shot and he’ll be really dangerous.
“Eran Zahavi is the main striker. He loves playing in the big games. He’s an all-round striker, not known for his pace but for his all-round game, he’s a talented player. He doesn’t just do well against the smaller teams in the Eredivisie, he tends to have a goal in him in those big games.”
Currently second in their domestic division, Eindhoven are four points behind leaders Ajax and it is against their title rivals where they have dropped points, even on home soil.
Statham expects a more cagey opening from the away side in Leicester, before unleashing more of their attacking talents as the game develops.
“Home advantage will be so important here,” the Football Oranje writer concluded. “In the home games in the Eredivisie they do have an excellent home record, but mainly against mid-table, low league sides. They tend to not drop points against those teams, and it’s against the likes of Ajax and Feyenoord that they have struggled this season.
“Under Schmidt, that’s something that perhaps could have been improved. He’s leaving at the end of the season, Ruud Van Nistelrooy will be coming in next season. Away from home in this first leg, the main thing for them will be to not replicate what was a pretty poor defensive display they had in their last league match against Twente.
“It's something they need to improve on if they are to get through this tie because their attacking players may give them the edge. They need to keep it really tight to begin with, playing the European mindset, using the experience they’ve got with Götze, Schmidt as the head coach, and then possibly letting some of the attacking players loose in the second half.”