Champions League: PSV Aim to Roll Clock Back to the Glory Days

PSV vs Liverpool

Eindhoven in January is never somewhere I’ve considered travelling to, but a Champions League tie between the respective league leaders of Holland and England is certainly a reason to reconsider.

When this SBOTOP writer thinks of PSV Eindhoven in their pomp, he thinks of the likes of Romario, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ruud Gullit, Hans van Breukelen, Ronald Koeman, and even a young Eidur Gudjohnsen. The Dutch club may have traditionally always struggled to hold onto their best players, and that is no different now to the team which was crowned champions of Europe in 1988.

Yet that’s not to say there won’t be Champions League 2025 highlights coming their way in the Philips Stadion on Wednesday night.

 

Talking Points

The scenario in this new format is clear: Liverpool are already guaranteed a top two finish in the standings after seven wins out of seven. Meanwhile, PSV need a draw to make sure they finish in the places between ninth and 24^th to secure a play-off spot.

Before you ask, my viewpoint hasn’t altered since September when I expressed the view that the quality of football in the new-look tournament won’t improve and, if anything, there will be more fatigued players come the end of the campaign.

Furthermore, the eight-match group stage format merely increases the chances of the European superpowers qualifying for the knockout stages which, presumably, is what many backers of the crassly thought-out Super League wanted in 2021 as opposed to the inconvenience of entertaining the smaller fry.

In theory, Euro giants (think Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and even holders Real Madrid) could now lose three times and still make it – something which was very rare in the six match format.

But that is where we are, and I suspect after this week’s final group matches, any wonderful tales of underdogs potentially upsetting the giants will be slim to non-existent.

Despite what my esteemed colleague may tell you, City will almost certainly make the cut for the reasons outlined above.

PSV may be underdogs in this tie, but they will be hopeful of ending the Merseysiders’ 100-per cent record in the competition this term.

Their manager Arne Slot certainly should beware as he returns to his homeland where his recent record against PSV was just one victory in seven previous clashes.

The hosts have hardly been rooting up trees of late though and, since the turn of 2025, Peter Bosz’s men have dropped five points domestically, drawing 2-2 at home to AZ Alkmaar before losing at Zwolle.

In their penultimate league phase outing in Europe last week, a red card to Ryan Flamingo threatened to derail their comfortable position away to Red Star Belgrade as a 3-0 lead was quickly pegged back to 3-2, but they were able to get over the line.

The same scoreline saw them beat NAC Breda at the weekend too, after going behind early on, although that did extend their superb home form to just one defeat in 53 games across all competitions – winning 44.

Flamingo will be suspended on Wednesday as he joins fellow defender Sergino Dest, who has a long-term knee injury, on the sidelines.

For Liverpool, Slot has a full complement to choose from except for utility defender Joe Gomez and striker Diogo Jota.

 

History 

This is a fixture which has been rather one-sided historically. Of six meetings, five have resulted in Liverpool wins with one draw. That was a goalless draw in Holland in their very first clash in the group stages in September 2006.

Liverpool won the return fixture 2-0 thanks to goals from Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch and then were 4-0 aggregate winners against them in the 2007 quarter-finals.

Their most recent clashes also went the way of the Merseysiders who won both group stage meetings 3-1 in the autumn of 2008.

 

Betting Tip

The Champions League 2025 betting odds predicts another win for the Premier League leaders against the team which is atop the Eredivisie. You can back them to make it eight group stage wins out of eight both 1X2 @ 2.36 and Asian Handicap -0.50, also @ 2.36. PSV are priced 1X2 @ 2.53 and Asian Handicap 0.00 @ 2.16.

A third successive 3-1 win for Liverpool will pay out @ 17.00 with Correct Score, whereas other bets to look at include Total Goals 0-1 @ 4.92, 2-3 @ 2.21, and 4-6 @ 2.46. I am actually plumping for a draw which will be enough for PSV to secure a play-off place.

   

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