Eredivisie

The 2026-27 season

PSV Eindhoven hold the title, their 27th, and settled it in early April last season with rounds to spare. Even in a league where the top three pull clear, that is early. Watch the Eredivisie for the championship and you will spend the spring watching nothing.

Three clubs went down at the end of 2025-26: Heracles Almelo, NAC Breda and Volendam. Three came up in their place. ADO Den Haag won the Eerste Divisie and return after five years away, Cambuur finished second, and Willem II came through the play-offs. Promoted sides have a harder time here than the size of the division suggests, because the gap between the top three and everyone else pulls the whole table upward.

The season runs from August to May, with a winter break through late December and January. Results land in the table above within minutes of the final whistle. Ignore the first month: three matches out of 34 decide almost nothing, and the early table will mislead you about who is good.

The clubs to know

PSV Eindhoven hold the title, their 27th, settled in early April last season. Ajax are the most decorated club in Dutch football and the one with the European history, four European Cups won between 1971 and 1995. Feyenoord complete the group that has taken almost every championship between them.

De Klassieker between Ajax and Feyenoord carries more weight than the current table usually justifies. Below the top three, AZ, Twente and Utrecht compete for European places with squads built to be sold.

Goals, and how many of them

The reputation for goals holds up, with one correction. Across the completed 2025-26 season the Eredivisie's 306 matches produced 972 goals, an average of 3.18 a game. The Bundesliga beat that, just, on 3.24. Against the leagues you are more likely to be watching, the margin is wide: the Premier League averaged 2.75 that season, La Liga 2.69, Serie A 2.43. Three quarters of a goal a match separates a Dutch fixture from an Italian one.

Dutch coaches press high and commit numbers forward, and that creates chances at both ends. The defending is not the problem. It does mean anyone arriving from Serie A misreads the goal markets for a month.

The selling model, and why it is the point

Dutch clubs develop players, sell them to England, Spain, Italy and Germany, and put the money into the next group. The selling is the plan. It explains most of what the league looks like from outside: squads that change hard every summer, and a title race settled before May.

It also means a season here is a preview of squads elsewhere in two years. If you want to know who England will be paying for in 2028, this is where they are playing now, and the fixtures worth finding are often the ones with an unfamiliar nineteen-year-old in them.

How the bottom of the table is settled

The bottom club goes down automatically. The positions above it are settled in the nacompetitie, a play-off that throws them in with clubs from the Eerste Divisie below, so finishing third from bottom buys you a fight rather than safety.

The second tier earns those play-off places in an unusual way. Its season is divided into four periods, each a mini-championship in its own right, and the winner of each takes a place in the play-offs regardless of where it finishes overall. A club can have a poor season and still reach the Eredivisie by winning eight or nine matches at the right time. The champions and runners-up of the Eerste Divisie go up directly and skip all of it.

Following the season week to week

Rounds spread from Friday to Sunday, with several matches sharing the Sunday afternoon slot, which is the one awkward moment in the week if you follow more than one club. Kick-off times suit viewers across western Europe and land early in the day for anyone watching from the Americas.

The table here updates as results are confirmed and the round preview covers each matchday. ESPN carries every match in the Netherlands and ESPN+ has the American rights to the full season, which the viewing guide sets out country by country.

Eredivisie: common questions

When does the Eredivisie season run?

August to May, with a winter break through late December and January. Eighteen clubs play 34 rounds each, four fewer than the seasons in England, Spain and Italy.

How many goals are scored in the Eredivisie?

The 2025-26 season produced 972 in 306 matches, an average of 3.18 a game. That was second in Europe behind the Bundesliga on 3.24, and well clear of the Premier League on 2.75, La Liga on 2.69 and Serie A on 2.43. Dutch sides press high and commit numbers forward, which creates chances at both ends.

Who are the Eredivisie champions?

PSV Eindhoven, whose 2025-26 title was the club's 27th. It was settled in early April, which is early even by the standards of a league where the top three pull clear.

Where can I watch Eredivisie matches?

ESPN carries every match in the Netherlands across four channels, ESPN+ holds the American rights to the full season, and OneSoccer streams it in Canada. Beyond those the rights are sold market by market, which our viewing guide covers country by country.

What time do Eredivisie matches kick off?

Rounds spread from Friday to Sunday, with several matches sharing the Sunday afternoon slot. Times suit viewers across western Europe and land early in the day for anyone watching from the Americas.

How does betting on the Eredivisie work?

Totals here sit well above the Italian or French equivalent and over 2.5 lands regularly, so habits carried from Serie A will misread every goal market. PSV, Ajax and Feyenoord operate at a level the rest cannot match, which makes heavy home favourites common and pushes the value into the goal markets rather than the results.

Not sure where a match is on? The viewing guide lists the confirmed rights holders by country.