Robin van Persie expects Eredivisie giants Feyenoord and PSV to serve up a classic when they face off on Sunday, despite his team having a short turnaround after a European victory on Thursday.

Feyenoord beat Greek side Panathinaikos 3-1 last time out to kickstart their Europa League campaign, following two straight defeats in UEFA's secondary club competition.

But they have started brilliantly on the domestic front, taking 25 points from their first nine Eredivisie games to lead the table, three points clear of PSV.

Van Persie is just the fifth Feyenoord coach to win 16 of his first 20 Eredivisie matches (D2 L2), and the first since Bert van Marwijk in 2000-01 (also 16).

The former Arsenal and Manchester United striker has seen his team average 2.65 goals per match in the Eredivisie (53 in 20 games). That is the highest figure by any Feyenoord coach after at least 20 league matches since Thijs Libregts in 1983-84 (2.84).

And Van Persie will not use his team's quick turnaround as an excuse if they fall short, with PSV having also been in midweek action, thrashing Napoli 6-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

"To the next match, it is now extremely short," Van Persie said. "Anyway, it will still be an absolutely top match, because over the past period Feyenoord and PSV have turned out to be the best teams in the Eredivisie. 

"I'm really looking forward to it. PSV have a good team and so do we. If you have 22 good players on the field who all have something extra, it will be a great duel."

Despite PSV thumping the Serie A champions last time out, head coach Peter Bosz was in no mood to get carried away.

"They can celebrate but they don’t have to go out to the pubs, because now we start to prepare for Sunday," Bosz said after that headline-grabbing win.

"I said in the dressing room that we can reach this level, we've been working towards it for weeks. We have to keep doing that now."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Feyenoord – Luciano Valente

Valente, along with PSV pair Ismael Saibari and Ryan Flamingo, has registered the joint-most secondary assists in the Eredivisie this season (three, also level with Ramiz Zerrouki).

He is also Feyenoord's leading chance creator from open play with 14, with only seven players in the division laying on more.

PSV – Ismael Saibari

Saibari has been involved in open-play passing sequences that have led to chances with a total value of 12.8 expected goals (xG) this season.

That is the highest of any player in the Eredivisie and at least 4.4 more than any team-mate (Guus Til, 8.4), and 5.0 more than any Feyenoord player (Ayase Ueda, 7.8).

MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW

Feyenoord are winless in their last seven Eredivisie meetings with PSV (D3 L4), and their only longer run without a win against the Eindhoven side in the competition came between 1983 and 1987 (10, also seven from 1990 to 1993).

And this will be the third Eredivisie meeting between Feyenoord and PSV in Rotterdam, where the hosts start the matchday as league leaders and PSV enter in second place. Feyenoord failed to win the previous two such encounters, drawing 1-1 in April 1962 and losing 3-2 in January 1975.

PSV have scored multiple goals in each of their last 11 Eredivisie away matches, only having gone on a longer such run in 2016 (12), though they have faced an average of 12.6 shots per match this season, over four more than they did last campaign (8.4).

An end-to-end affair is anticipated, and a draw could be on the cards between these two rivals.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Feyenoord – 40%

PSV – 36.3%

Draw – 23.7%