PSV scouting report: How good are Arsenal’s Champions League last 16 opponents?

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Dutch expert insight 

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On Wednesday Arsenal will look to put themselves in a fantastic position to achieve something that the club have only managed to do once in the last 16 seasons: get beyond the last 16 of the Champions League. Despite being one of the richest clubs in the world, the North London side have often struggled to match expectations with results in Europe, but this season’s clash with Eredivisie giants PSV should offer an excellent opportunity for Mikel Arteta & Co. to put that right.

However, while Arsenal could have certainly faced more formidable foes at this stage of the tournament, the Premier League giants would do well not to underestimate their Dutch counterparts. As the aforementioned record suggests, Arsenal can’t take anything for granted in this tournament. So how good are this PSV side, what players should Arsenal watch out for and, crucially, how can they beat Peter Bosz’s side and get through to the next round of the Champions League? To find out, we spoke too Transfermarkt’s Eredivisie expert Kevin Lux. Here’s what he had to say. 

How good have PSV been this season? 

After winning the league title last season, PSV looked on course to make it two from two this time around after leading in the Dutch top-flight for much of the league campaign. However, as Lux points out, the club have hit a notable dip in form since the turn of the year and fallen behind historic rivals Ajax. “PSV started the season as dominant as they ended last season, when they were crowned champions,” noted Lux. “But injuries to Joey Veerman and Jerdy Schouten made it clear that they needed their strongest players to cruise to another Eredivisie title. The club have struggled at times, but still remain in decent form in the league. This calendar year, more and more teams have been able to pick off some points from the reigning Dutch champions, which saw them even drop to second place in the table. Which is why they’re eight points behind Ajax at the moment. Even with the return of Veerman and Schouten, PSV are still vulnerable at the moment.”

How well have PSV done in the Champions League this season? 

However, while some Arsenal fans may take confidence from PSV’s struggles on the domestic front, Lux was quick to point out that the club’s form in Europe has largely remained immune to their wavering performances in the Eredivisie. Which would certainly explain their wins over Liverpool, Girona and Shakhtar in the Champions League group stage, as well as a 1-1 draw away to Paris Saint-Germain. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, Bosz’s side also came from behind to beat Juventus in the play-offs. “While they are struggling in the Dutch league, their Champions League campaign has gone largely above and beyond expectation,” said Lux. “It all looks just as brittle as in the Eredivisie, but for some reason, they’ve managed to get results in European matches this season.” 

Who is PSV’s best player? 

PSV are known for developing dozens of outstanding players over the course of the last two or three decades and this current team is no exception. But if Arsenal are looking to close down the Eredivisie giant’s best player over the course of their two-legged clash, they may need to look beyond the obvious names and consider one of the club’s new stars. “It’s very hard to pick the best player at PSV at the moment,” admitted Lux when tasked with picking the club’s best player this season. “Veerman, Schouten, Johan Bakayoko and Olivier Boscagli are mostly solid, but not at the level that they were performing on last year. Luuk de Jong is an important player, but isn’t scoring as much this time around and Malik Tillman was playing well, but is injured at the moment. If I have to pick a name, I have to go for Ismael Saibari, who is having a tremendous breakthrough season this year.” 

Indeed, after making the step up from the club’s U-21 team last summer, the 24-year-old central midfielder has nailed down a starting role in Bosz’s side as a player capable of scoring and creating goals in equal measure. To date, the Moroccan prospect has picked up 10 goals and 12 assists in all competitions, including an assist in the club’s 1-1 draw with PSG and goals in the wins over Liverpool and Juventus. Saibari clearly enjoys playing in the big games and will be licking his lips at the prospect of locking horns with Arsenal’s best midfielders. 

Do PSV have any notable weaknesses? 

However, what may play in Arsenal’s favour over the course of both legs of this Champions League tie is the rut that PSV seem to find themselves in. As previously noted, the club’s league form has dropped off considerably since the turn of the year and across all competitions Bosz’s side have won just five of their 12 games in all competitions in 2025 thus far. Rather than having any notable tactical flaws, Lux believes this misfortune is due to a crisis of character within the side. And if Arsenal are to beat PSV, it may be down to their opponents simply not being up to the challenge on the night. “Confidence is their main flaw at this moment,” said Lux. “They seem to lack the will to fight and that is costing them points in the Eredivisie. They could win matches, even bad ones, just by trusting their talent, but they are now in a phase where talent isn’t enough and they have to fight for every ball. That’s not their strongest point, apparently.”