PSV Eindhoven will hope to wrap up their first Eredivisie title since 2018 when they travel to Heerenveen on Thursday in a round of matches stretched across five days.

Peter Bosz’s team have just lost once all season and have been champions in waiting since the 2-2 home draw with nearest rivals Feyenoord at the beginning of March.

The nine-point gap between the teams means Feyenoord will still have a mathematical chance of retaining their title if they beat Go Ahead Eagles in Deventer later on Thursday evening.

In that case PSV will have to wait until the home match against another Rotterdam club, Sparta, on May 5. The Eindhoven side are also just five goals short of a century for the season, with Luuk de Jong one of three players vying for the golden boot along with Santiago Giménez of Feyenoord and AZ striker Vangelis Pavlidis.

Slot focus

Feyenoord’s coach Arne Slot has been in the spotlight since it emerged at the weekend that Liverpool have opened talks to recruit the 45-year-old as a replacement for Jürgen Klopp, who is leaving Anfield at the end of the season.

Further down the league there is stiff competition for the remaining European places, with Twente Enschede, AZ Alkmaar and Ajax all in the hunt.

Twente, who have a five-point lead over AZ in the race for the highly coveted Champions League play-off spot, can temporarily extend it to eight by beating Almere on Wednesday.

AZ face a harder test on Sunday when they visit NEC, who have lost just twice in league since January. But the real showdown is likely to be in the next round on May 5 when Twente travel to Alkmaar.

Ajax hopeful

NEC’s defeat to Feyenoord in the cup final means the fifth-placed team will play in the second qualifying round of the Europa League.

That position is currently occupied by Ajax, who play Excelsior at home on Wednesday and have a relatively straightforward run-in against Almere, Volendam and relegated Vitesse.

NEC, who are one point behind the crisis-ridden Amsterdam giants, still have to play Feyenoord as well as AZ, along with Almere and Excelsior.

Ajax, meanwhile, will hope AZ falter in the home straight and bring a fourth-place finish within their grasp, guaranteeing a place in the Europa League group stage, but the seven-point gap will be hard to close.

Play-offs

Utrecht, who are three points behind Ajax, have an outside chance of snatching fifth place, with fixtures against RKC, Vitesse, Sparta and AZ still to come.

A Conference League ticket is the prize for one of the clubs finishing between sixth and ninth, who will contest the end-of-season play-offs. Go Ahead and Sparta currently occupy the last two positions, with a four-point cushion ahead of Heerenveen and Fortuna Sittard – both of whom still have to play PSV.

Vitesse Arnhem’s relegation was confirmed at the weekend when they were docked 18 points for administrative irregularities, leaving them on minus 1 for the season.

Volendam occupy the other automatic relegation position, five points behind RKC, who look to be in a straight fight with Excelsior for survival.

The team finishing 16th will go into the end-of-season play-offs against six clubs seeking promotion from the Keuken Kampioen Divisie.