2018–19 Eredivisie

This article is about the men's competition. For the women's competition, see 2018–19 Eredivisie (women).

The 2018–19 Eredivisie was the 63rd season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. The season began on 10 August 2018 and concluded on 15 May 2019; the Europa League and relegation play-offs will take place later that month. PSV were the defending champions. Emmen, De Graafschap and Fortuna Sittard joined as the promoted clubs from the 2017–18 Eerste Divisie. They replaced Sparta Rotterdam, Twente and Roda JC who were relegated to the 2018–19 Eerste Divisie.

Eredivisie

Season	2018–19
Dates	10 August 2018 – 15 May 2019
Champions	Ajax (34th title)
Relegated	NAC Breda De Graafschap Excelsior
Champions League	Ajax PSV Eindhoven
Europa League	Feyenoord AZ FC Utrecht
Matches played	306
Goals scored	1,061 (3.47 per match)
Top goalscorer	Luuk de Jong Dušan Tadić (28 goals each)
Biggest home win	Ajax 8–0 De Graafschap (16 December 2018)
Biggest away win	ADO Den Haag 0–7 PSV Eindhoven (15 September 2018)
Highest scoring	Heracles Almelo 4–5 Excelsior (12 May 2019)
Longest winning run	13 matches PSV Eindhoven
Longest unbeaten run	13 matches PSV Eindhoven
Longest winless run	10 matches Excelsior NAC Breda
Longest losing run	7 matches Excelsior
Highest attendance	53,720
Lowest attendance	3,811
Total attendance	5,509,186
Average attendance	18,004
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

Teams

A total of 18 teams took part in the league: The best fifteen teams from the 2017–18 season, two promotion/relegation playoff winners (FC Emmen and De Graafschap) and the 2017–18 Eerste Divisie runners-up (Fortuna Sittard). FC Emmen will play in the Eredivisie for the first time in their history.

ADO

Ajax

AZ

De Graafschap

Emmen

Rotterdam

Fortuna

Groningen

Heerenveen

Heracles

NAC

PEC

PSV

Utrecht

Vitesse

VVV

Willem II

Rotterdam teams

Excelsior
Feyenoord

Locations of the 2018–19 Eredivisie teams

Feyenoord

Excelsior

Rotterdam Eredivisie football clubs

Stadiums and locations

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
ADO Den Haag	The Hague	Cars Jeans Stadion	15,000
Ajax	Amsterdam	Johan Cruyff Arena	54,990
AZ	Alkmaar	AFAS Stadion	17,023
De Graafschap	Doetinchem	De Vijverberg	12,600
Emmen	Emmen	De Oude Meerdijk	8,600
Excelsior	Rotterdam	Van Donge & De Roo Stadion	4,500
Feyenoord	Rotterdam	De Kuip	51,177
Fortuna Sittard	Sittard	Fortuna Sittard Stadion	10,300
Groningen	Groningen	Noordlease Stadion	22,550
Heerenveen	Heerenveen	Abe Lenstra Stadion	27,224
Heracles Almelo	Almelo	Polman Stadion	12,080
NAC Breda	Breda	Rat Verlegh Stadion	19,000
PEC Zwolle	Zwolle	MAC³PARK Stadion	14,000
PSV	Eindhoven	Philips Stadion	36,500
Utrecht	Utrecht	Stadion Galgenwaard	23,750
Vitesse	Arnhem	GelreDome	21,248
VVV-Venlo	Venlo	Seacon Stadion – De Koel	8,000
Willem II	Tilburg	Koning Willem II Stadion	14,500

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
ADO Den Haag	Alfons Groenendijk	Aaron Meijers	Erreà	Cars Jeans
Ajax	Erik ten Hag	Matthijs de Ligt	Adidas	Ziggo
AZ	John van den Brom	Guus Til	Under Armour	AFAS Software
De Graafschap	Henk de Jong	Sven Nieuwpoort	Nike	Flexfactory
Emmen	Dick Lukkien	Anco Jansen	Beltona	Noordlease
Excelsior	André Hoekstra	Ryan Koolwijk	Quick	DSW Zorgverzekeraar
Feyenoord	Giovanni van Bronckhorst	Robin van Persie	Adidas	Qurrent
Fortuna Sittard	René Eijer [nl]	Wessel Dammers	Masita	Sparr Finance
Groningen	Danny Buijs	Mike te Wierik	Puma	Payt
Heerenveen	Johnny Jansen	Stijn Schaars	Jako	GroenLeven
Heracles	Frank Wormuth	Robin Pröpper	Acerbis	Asito
NAC Breda	Ruud Brood	Menno Koch	Legea	CM Payments
PEC Zwolle	Jaap Stam	Bram van Polen	Craft	Molecaten
PSV	Mark van Bommel	Luuk de Jong	Umbro	Energiedirect.nl
Utrecht	Dick Advocaat	Willem Janssen	Hummel	Zorg van de zaak
Vitesse	Leonid Slutsky	Maikel van der Werff	Macron	Droomparken
VVV-Venlo	Maurice Steijn	Danny Post	Masita	Seacon Logistics
Willem II	Adrie Koster	Jordens Peters	Robey	Destil

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Excelsior	Mitchell van der Gaag	End of contract	1 July 2018[1]	Pre-season	Adrie Poldervaart	1 July 2018[2]
Fortuna Sittard	Cláudio Braga	End of interim spell	1 July 2018		René Eijer [nl]	1 July 2018
Groningen	Ernest Faber	End of contract	1 July 2018		Danny Buijs	1 July 2018
Heerenveen	Jurgen Streppel	End of contract	1 July 2018		Jan Olde Riekerink	1 July 2018
Heracles Almelo	John Stegeman	End of contract	1 July 2018		Frank Wormuth	1 July 2018
NAC Breda	Stijn Vreven	End of contract	1 July 2018		Mitchell van der Gaag	1 July 2018
PSV	Phillip Cocu	Signed by Fenerbahçe	1 July 2018		Mark van Bommel	1 July 2018
Vitesse	Edward Sturing	End of interim spell	1 July 2018		Leonid Slutsky	1 July 2018
Willem II	Reinier Robbemond	End of interim spell	1 July 2018		Adrie Koster	1 July 2018
FC Utrecht	Jean-Paul de Jong	Sacked	4 September 2018	11th	Dick Advocaat	12 September 2018
PEC Zwolle	John van 't Schip	Sacked	19 December 2018	15th	Jaap Stam	28 December 2018
NAC Breda	Mitchell van der Gaag	Resigned	18 March 2019	18th	Ruud Brood	25 March 2019
Excelsior	Adrie Poldervaart	Resigned	4 April 2019 [3]	15th	André Hoekstra	4 April 2019
Heerenveen	Jan Olde Riekerink	Sacked	10 April 2019 [4]	10th	Johnny Jansen (caretaker)	10 April 2019

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ajax (C)	34	28	2	4	119	32	+87	86	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
2	PSV Eindhoven	34	26	5	3	98	26	+72	83	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3	Feyenoord	34	20	5	9	75	41	+34	65	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round[a]
4	AZ	34	17	7	10	64	43	+21	58	Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round[a]
5	Vitesse	34	14	11	9	70	51	+19	53	Qualification for the European competition play-offs[b]
6	Utrecht (O)	34	15	8	11	60	51	+9	53
7	Heracles Almelo	34	15	3	16	61	68	−7	48
8	Groningen	34	13	6	15	39	41	−2	45
9	ADO Den Haag	34	12	9	13	58	63	−5	45
10	Willem II	34	13	5	16	58	72	−14	44
11	Heerenveen	34	10	11	13	64	73	−9	41
12	VVV-Venlo	34	11	8	15	47	63	−16	41
13	PEC Zwolle	34	11	6	17	44	57	−13	39
14	Emmen	34	10	8	16	41	72	−31	38
15	Fortuna Sittard	34	9	7	18	50	80	−30	34
16	Excelsior (R)	34	9	6	19	46	79	−33	33	Qualification for the Relegation play-offs[c]
17	De Graafschap (R)	34	8	5	21	38	75	−37	29
18	NAC Breda (R)	34	5	8	21	29	74	−45	23	Relegation to Eerste Divisie

Source: eredivisie.nl
Rules for classification: Season in progress: 1) Most points won; 2) Less points lost; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Alphabetical order; End of season: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored; 7) Play-off if relevant for deciding champion, relegation or participating in a European league, otherwise by draw. 8) Penalty shoot-out (only after a play-off)^[5]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Since the winners of the 2018–19 KNVB Cup, Ajax, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the KNVB Cup winners (Europa League third qualifying round) was passed to the third-placed team and the spot awarded to the third-placed team (Europa League second qualifying round) was passed to the fourth-placed team.
2. Four teams play for a spot in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.
3. Ten teams, two from the Eredivisie and eight from the Eerste Divisie, play for two spots in the 2019–20 Eredivisie. The remaining eight teams play in the 2019–20 Eerste Divisie.

Results

Home \ Away	ADO	AJA	AZ	EMM	EXC	FEY	FOR	GRA	GRO	HEE	HER	NAC	PEC	PSV	UTR	VIT	VVV	WIL
ADO Den Haag		1–5	0–1	1–2	3–1	2–2	3–1	0–0	1–0	2–3	2–0	1–1	1–0	0–7	5–0	3–3	2–4	6–2
Ajax	5–1		5–0	5–0	6–2	3–0	4–0	8–0	3–0	4–4	1–1	5–0	2–1	3–1	4–1	4–2	6–0	2–0
AZ	2–3	1–0		5–0	2–1	1–1	4–2	1–0	1–0	2–3	2–1	5–0	2–2	1–0	3–0	0–0	3–0	0–2
Emmen	3–2	2–5	1–4		1–2	1–4	3–3	1–1	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–1	2–2	2–0	0–3	1–1	0–2
Excelsior	2–4	1–7	4–2	2–1		2–1	1–1	2–0	2–4	3–3	0–3	1–2	0–2	0–2	3–3	2–0	1–0	1–1
Feyenoord	0–2	6–2	2–1	4–0	3–0		0–2	4–0	1–0	3–0	2–1	4–2	3–0	2–1	1–0	2–1	4–1	2–3
Fortuna Sittard	0–0	0–2	0–3	3–1	4–1	1–4		3–1	0–0	2–4	3–0	2–1	3–0	1–2	1–1	2–1	1–1	4–4
De Graafschap	1–1	1–4	1–1	1–0	4–1	2–0	5–1		0–1	0–5	1–2	3–0	0–2	1–4	0–1	2–2	1–2	2–1
Groningen	1–0	0–1	1–3	1–2	1–0	1–0	3–0	1–0		2–0	3–0	5–2	0–1	1–2	1–1	2–1	3–2	0–1
Heerenveen	1–1	0–4	0–2	1–1	1–0	3–5	3–1	0–3	1–1		3–5	2–1	1–1	2–2	2–3	1–1	2–2	4–2
Heracles Almelo	4–2	1–0	3–2	2–1	4–5	0–2	6–0	4–0	4–1	2–1		1–0	0–2	0–4	1–5	3–2	4–1	3–4
NAC Breda	1–1	0–3	0–3	1–1	0–2	0–4	2–3	3–0	0–0	4–2	2–1		0–0	0–2	0–4	2–1	1–1	2–2
PEC Zwolle	2–3	1–4	0–0	3–0	2–0	3–1	5–0	0–3	3–2	2–3	1–1	0–0		1–2	4–3	0–2	2–4	2–3
PSV Eindhoven	3–1	3–0	3–1	6–0	6–0	1–1	5–0	2–1	2–1	3–0	3–1	2–0	4–0		4–0	1–0	4–0	6–1
Utrecht	3–0	1–3	2–1	1–2	0–0	3–2	2–1	5–0	0–0	3–1	3–1	2–1	2–0	2–2		0–0	1–1	0–1
Vitesse	1–1	0–4	2–2	1–1	3–2	1–1	2–1	6–1	5–1	2–2	4–0	4–1	4–1	3–3	2–1		2–1	3–2
VVV-Venlo	2–0	0–1	2–2	2–3	1–0	0–3	3–2	4–1	0–0	1–1	0–1	3–0	2–0	0–1	2–6	1–3		2–1
Willem II	0–3	1–4	2–1	2–3	2–2	1–1	3–2	3–2	1–2	1–5	5–0	2–0	2–0	0–3	0–1	1–3	0–1

Source: eredivisie.nl
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Games	Goals	Penalties	Average
1	Luuk de Jong	PSV Eindhoven	34	28	00	0.82
	Dušan Tadić	Ajax	34		11	0.82
3	Adrián Dalmau	Heracles Almelo	31	19	00	0.61
4	Hirving Lozano	PSV Eindhoven	30	17	04	0.57
	Abdenasser El Khayati	ADO Den Haag	33		06	0.52
6	Robin van Persie	Feyenoord	25	16	00	0.64
	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	Ajax	28		01	0.57
	Hakim Ziyech	Ajax	29		00	0.55
	Sam Lammers	Heerenveen	31		05	0.52
	Michel Vlap	Heerenveen	34		00	0.47

Source: nos.nl^[6]

Hat-tricks

Round	Player	Club	Goals	Date	Home	Score	Away
3	Fran Sol	Willem II	34', 52' (p), 70'	26 August 2018	Willem II	5–0	Heracles Almelo
4	Abdenasser El Khayati	ADO Den Haag	21' (p), 45+1', 65', 69'	1 September 2018	Excelsior	2–4	ADO Den Haag
16	Daley Blind	Ajax	65', 74', 90'	16 December 2018	Ajax	8–0	De Graafschap
16	Hakim Ziyech	Ajax	32', 62', 69'	16 December 2018	Ajax	8–0	De Graafschap
18	Fabian Serrarens	De Graafschap	27', 30', 66'	20 January 2019	De Graafschap	5–1	Fortuna Sittard
20	Luuk de Jong	PSV Eindhoven	54', 76', 87'	3 February 2019	PSV Eindhoven	5–0	Fortuna Sittard
22	Adrián Dalmau	Heracles Almelo	1', 51', 60', 78'	16 February 2019	Heracles Almelo	6–0	Fortuna Sittard
24	Robin van Persie	Feyenoord	38', 52', 62'	3 March 2019	Feyenoord	4–0	Emmen
27	Alexander Isak	Willem II	44' (p), 58' (p), 61' (p)	30 March 2019	Willem II	3–2	Fortuna Sittard
27	Thomas Buitink	Vitesse	21', 27', 43'	30 March 2019	ADO Den Haag	3–3	Vitesse
30	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	Ajax	10', 40', 65'	13 April 2019	Ajax	6–2	Excelsior
31	Bryan Linssen	Vitesse	9', 47', 77'	20 April 2019	Vitesse	4–1	PEC Zwolle
33	Adrián Dalmau	Heracles Almelo	23', 51', 59'	12 May 2019	Heracles Almelo	4–5	Excelsior
33	Elías Már Ómarsson	Excelsior	4', 45', 90+1'	12 May 2019	Heracles Almelo	4–5	Excelsior
33	Peniel Mlapa	VVV-Venlo	54', 57', 75'	12 May 2019	PEC Zwolle	2–4	VVV-Venlo

Assists

Rank	Player	Club	Games	Assists	Average
1	Hakim Ziyech	Ajax	29	13	0.45
	Dušan Tadić	Ajax	34		0.38
3	Steven Berghuis	Feyenoord	33	12	0.36
	Steven Bergwijn	PSV Eindhoven	33		0.36
	Abdenasser El Khayati	ADO Den Haag	33		0.36
6	Martin Ødegaard	Vitesse	31	10	0.32
	Brandley Kuwas	Heracles Almelo	33		0.3
	Donny van de Beek	Ajax	34		0.29
9	Arbër Zeneli	Heerenveen	17	09	0.53
	Angeliño	PSV Eindhoven	34		0.26

Source: nos.nl^[7]

Discipline

Player with the most yellow cards: 11^[8]

• Tom Beugelsdijk (ADO Den Haag)

Players with the most red cards: 2

• José Rodríguez (Fortuna Sittard)
• Morten Thorsby (SC Heerenveen)
• Urby Emanuelson (FC Utrecht)
• Fabian Serrarens (De Graafschap)
• Jesper Drost (Heracles Almelo)
• Maikel van der Werff (Vitesse)
• Mounir El Allouchi (NAC Breda)
• Danilho Doekhi (Vitesse)

Updated to match(es) played on 8 April 2019.

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Player of the Month		Talent of the Month		Ref.
	Player	Club	Player	Club
August	Robin van Persie	Feyenoord	Steven Bergwijn	PSV	[9]
September	Kristoffer Peterson	Heracles	Angeliño	PSV	[10]
October	Hakim Ziyech	Ajax	Michel Vlap	Heerenveen	[11]
November	Nicolás Tagliafico	Ajax	Noussair Mazraoui	Ajax	[12]
December	Frenkie de Jong	Ajax	Steven Bergwijn	PSV	[13]
January	Patrick Joosten	VVV-Venlo	Sam Lammers	Heerenveen	[14]
February	Frenkie de Jong	Ajax	Lazaros Lamprou	Fortuna Sittard	[15]
March	Dušan Tadić	Ajax	Alexander Isak	Willem II	[16]
April	Martin Ødegaard	Vitesse	Tyrell Malacia	Feyenoord	[17]
May	Elías Már Ómarsson	Excelsior	Martin Ødegaard	Vitesse	[18]

Annual awards

Award	Player	Club	Ref.
Player of the Season	Frenkie de Jong	Ajax	[19]
Talent of the Season	Angeliño	PSV

Team of the Season[19]
Goalkeeper	André Onana (Ajax)
Defence	Denzel Dumfries (PSV)	Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax)	Daley Blind (Ajax)		Angeliño (PSV)
Midfield	Martin Ødegaard (Vitesse)	Lasse Schöne (Ajax)		Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Attack	Hakim Ziyech (Ajax)	Luuk de Jong (PSV)		Dušan Tadić (Ajax)
Bench	Marco Bizot (AZ) Nicolás Tagliafico (Ajax) Nick Viergever (PSV) Abdenasser El Khayati (ADO Den Haag) Thulani Serero (Vitesse) Younes Namli (PEC Zwolle) Adrián Dalmau (Heracles) Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord) Steven Bergwijn (PSV)

Play-offs

European competition

Four teams played for a spot in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.

	Semi-finals						Final
	Heracles Almelo	0	0	0
	FC Utrecht	2	3	5
							FC Utrecht*	1	2	3
							Vitesse	1	0	1
	FC Groningen	2	1	3
	Vitesse	1	3	4

Key: * = Play-off winners, (a) = Wins because of away goals rule, (e) = Wins after extra time in second leg, (p) = Wins after penalty shoot-out.

Promotion/relegation play-offs

Ten teams, two from the Eredivisie and eight from the Eerste Divisie, played for two spots in the 2019–20 Eredivisie, the remaining eight teams playing in the 2019–20 Eerste Divisie.

	First round						Second round						Third round
	NEC	2	0	2
	RKC Waalwijk	0	3	3
							RKC Waalwijk	2	1	3
							Excelsior	1	1	2
													RKC Waalwijk*	0	5	5
													Go Ahead Eagles	0	4	4
							Go Ahead Eagles	2	1	3
							FC Den Bosch	2	0	2
							TOP Oss	0	0	0
							Sparta Rotterdam	2	3	5
													Sparta Rotterdam*	1	2	3
													De Graafschap	2	0	2
	SC Cambuur	2	2	4
	Almere City	2	1	3
							SC Cambuur	1	0	1
							De Graafschap	1	2	3

Key: * = Play-off winners, (a) = Wins because of away goals rule, (e) = Wins after extra time in second leg, (p) = Wins after penalty shoot-out.

Attendances

#	Football club	Home games	Average attendance[20]
1	AFC Ajax	17	52,961
2	Feyenoord	17	41,771
3	PSV	17	34,071
4	FC Utrecht	17	18,841
5	sc Heerenveen	17	18,743
6	NAC Breda	17	18,262
7	FC Groningen	17	17,744
8	AZ	17	15,133
9	Vitesse	17	15,065
10	PEC Zwolle	17	13,478
11	Willem II	17	12,998
12	ADO Den Haag	17	12,561
13	De Graafschap	17	12,321
14	Heracles Almelo	17	10,992
15	Fortuna Sittard	17	9,100
16	FC Emmen	17	8,262
17	VVV-Venlo	17	6,828
18	Excelsior	17	4,214