Dalglish ponders

Once Kenny Dalglish has sat down with his players and watched the video of PSV's last game before the Champions' League meeting in Eindhoven tonight, they might find it is good to talk, as Newcastle will be seeing rather a lot of the Dutch club in the next two weeks.

Dalglish dispatched Alan Irvine to Nijmegen on Sunday to see the Dutch champions coast to a 4-0 win against NEC, long-time underachievers with the promotion and relegation tendencies of West Ham through the last eight years.

The Newcastle coach would have had plenty to report on his return, not least the form of Luc Nilis. The 30-year-old Belgian international and 1996 Dutch Player of the Year has had recent differences of opinion with the PSV manager, Dick Advocaat, but two well-taken goals all but assured him of a place in tonight's starting line-up.

Nilis's first came after a run in which he turned the defender inside and out before hitting home with his left foot; the second was a rising shot with his right foot from an acute angle. He rounded it all off by hitting a post with a dipping free-kick from outside the box.

"We have sorted out our differences," said Advocaat (50), who is in his first club job after moving through the ranks with the national side to steer them to the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup. "This was a good game for Nilis to get into rhythm. He is back to his best and showed, with two fine goals, he is ready to play."

Just as importantly, PSV won while easing two key players back to match fitness. Phillip Cocu and Gilles de Bilde both came on as second-half substitutes, and the latter chipped in with a smartly taken goal set up by Nilis.

For PSV - undefeated in the league but, thanks to four draws, five points behind Ajax who boast 10 wins out of 10 with only three goals conceded - the Champions' League is fast reaching the point where a win is imperative. Their last match produced a creditable 22 draw at Barcelona, but they came badly unstuck in the first, losing 31 at home to Dinamo Kiev.

With the exception of Chris van der Weerden, the recipient of a red card in Barcelona, Advocaat has a full squad to choose from. Moreover, 12 of PSV's outfield players have scored league goals this season, including all of the back four.

The Dutch international Jaap Stam lines up in the centre of defence with Ernest Faber, who got the opener on Sunday. Arthur Numan, another full international, and Marcos Vampeta are both fullbacks who like to get forward.

Nilis will probably be joined by De Bilde ahead of Peter Moller, despite his late equaliser in Barcelona.

Advocaat was at Leeds on Saturday to witness Newcastle's biggest defeat of the season and left the ground with plenty to think about. The next fortnight will reveal how closely the Newcastle players listen to Irvine's observations.

PSV (probable): Waterrheus; Vampeta, Stam, Faber, Numan; Jonk; Stinga, Cocu, Zenden; Nilis, De Bilde (or Moller).