PSV coach Ruud van Nistelrooij has announced his line-up for the semi-final of the TOTO KNVB Cup against SV Spakenburg. The coach surprises by positioning midfielder Érick Gutiérrez as central defender. Van Nistelrooij also opts for the strongest possible position on paper. The match at Sportpark De Westmaat starts at 8 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN 1.
Joël Drommel is under the bar with the people of Eindhoven. In front of him is the central duo André Ramalho and thus Gutiérrez. Due to the absence of the injured Jarrad Branthwaite, Van Nistelrooij had to puzzle in the back line and the choice fell on the Mexican. Jordan Teze (right) and Patrick van Aanholt (left) occupy the back positions. The midfield consists of Ibrahim Sangaré, Joey Veerman and Guus Til. Captain Luuk de Jong is the striker on duty. He is flanked by Johan Bakayoko (right) and Xavi Simons (left). At Spakenburg there is one change to note compared to the duel with OFC (1-1). Vince Gino Dekker returns to the base, at the expense of Maurice de Ruiter.
Koos Werkman gave Spakenburg a point against OFC on Saturday, after which the focus was completely on PSV. The team of coach Chris de Graaf has only gained two points from the last four matches in the Second Division and will hope to regain the form of the previous cup round, when FC Utrecht was humiliated at home (1-4). The Blues also defeated FC Groningen earlier in the tournament (2-3). Spakenburg can also draw confidence from PSV’s last meeting with an amateur club in the cup tournament. In the 2019/20 season, the Eindhoven team needed an extension to eliminate GVVV (1-2). Of the basic team from then, only Olivier Boscagli is still a PSV player.
Our eleven for the semifinal! ??#SPAPSV pic.twitter.com/I1cYArVOoH
— PSV (@PSV) April 4, 2023
The Frenchman had an emotional evening on Saturday. Boscagli recently returned from a serious knee injury and managed to make it 0-2 at NEC (2-4), which led to intense joy and tears for the central defender. However, he is not there, just like Branthwaite and Phillipp Mwene. Van Nistelrooij decided to transfer Jenson Seelt, Fedde Leysen and Livano Comenencia from Jong PSV to the first team in order to ease defensive concerns. Van Nistelrooij said he labeled the semi-final as a ‘top match’ and it also seems to be the last chance for a new prize this season, after the Johan Cruijff Scale was previously conquered at the expense of Ajax (3-5).
Line-up SV Spakenburg: Ladies; Verhagen, Artien, Werkman, Green; Van Lopik, Vink, Wesdorp; Dekker, Van der Linden, Admiral.
Line-up PSV: damn; Teze, Ramalho, Gutierrez, Van Aanholt; Veerman, Sangaré, Til; Bakayoko, De Jong, Simons.
Not the first time against SV Spakenburg ??#SPAPSV
— PSV (@PSV) April 3, 2023