Seven scorers, and finally a number nine
PSV Eindhoven 7–0 Willem II. Mauro Júnior, Guus Til, Sven Mijnans, Ruben van Bommel, Ricardo Pepi, Kodai Sano and Shuryjano Cornecion, seven different names on the scoresheet (19). The gap to Feyenoord is now two points (13). That scoreline is the week, and it is the right one to be suspicious of.
Suspicious, because Willem II were a regional neighbour with nothing to answer with. But one element of that rout survives the caveat. Pepi needed 13 minutes to score after coming on, his first appearance after months out (15). Bosz called him "fresh" and said PSV finally have "a real striker" again (2) (20). For weeks Mijnans had been playing as a makeshift forward. Now Bosz has the option that changes what his attack is.
The Mijnans question, answered quietly
Sven Mijnans said it out loud: he underestimated the move to PSV (3). He also scored on Saturday, and he has been taking over the role Ismael Saibari used to hold (8). Against Feyenoord on October 25 the 1–1 cost him through suspension (7). That 1–1 and the 2–1 loss at ADO Den Haag on October 17 are the reason PSV sit third and not first. One bad afternoon in The Hague, and this weekend's gap would be one point bigger than two.
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Bosz's own account of Saturday is the most interesting thing he has said in weeks. He hesitated over whether to tell the squad about Feyenoord's slip, then did it anyway (9) (26). Van Bommel felt the motivation land immediately (10). That is a manager working the margins, and it is worth remembering when the next big home night arrives.
Til, Bajraktarević and the noise around selection
Guus Til scored again, his eighth of the season, and Arnold Bruggink says he should have the armband (21). Ruben van Bommel shrugged off Bosz calling him a "potential record sale" with a flat "what should I say" (25). Bajraktarević set up Pepi and the stands want him starting (5). Good problems, all of them, and Bosz has four days to decide which of them travel into a Champions League night.
Robert Maaskant is unmoved by the seven: "dat is geen graadmeter" (11). He is right about Saturday and wrong about the trend. A fit Pepi plus a settled Mijnans is the first time this autumn PSV have had real choice in the final third.
Club Brugge, then a trip to Cambuur
Club Brugge at the Philips Stadion on Wednesday at 21:00 is the fixture that actually tests this. So far PSV have lost 1–0 at RB Leipzig and won 1–0 at Porto (recent results), so the league phase is open in front of them. Beating the Belgian champions at home would be the first time this season they own a European night rather than survive one.
Then Cambuur away on Sunday, November 8, a ground where dropped points would undo every bit of Saturday's margin. Watch Pepi's minutes across the two. If he starts against Brugge, Bosz has made his choice.
