Dirk Kuyt is aiming for the first Dutch title of his career in his second spell at Feyenoord

As someone who spent six years trying to end one long title drought without success at Liverpool, Dirk Kuyt is on the verge of finally bringing another to a close.

A key factor in Feyenoord's charge to the top of the Eredivisie this season, the veteran forward can take a step closer to ensuring they stay there for good this weekend.

At the summit since a 5-0 win at Groningen on the opening day of the season in early August, the Rotterdam club are starting to see a first Dutch championship in 18 years come into view.

One thing's for sure: their fans will party like it's 1999 if they can take maximum points from fellow challengers PSV Eindhoven on Sunday, live on Sky Sports 5 HD.

With 10 games of the competition to go from there, they may not have one hand on the shield just yet but another victory might make them think about starting to reach out.

Nicolai Jorgensen has been a big hit in Rotterdam since his move from FC Copenhagen

Recent results suggest Feyenoord can defeat a side they beat 1-0 away from home in September, with the team in a rich vein of form once again after a wobble towards the end of last year.

Having begun the campaign with nine straight wins, there were shades of Manchester City as they enjoyed just one more in their following five games.

Yet while City kept stuttering and their Premier League title hopes suffered, Feyenoord were resurgent and another nine successive victories have kept them clear of their rivals.

With Ajax and PSV winning 15 of the 17 titles on offer since the Eredivisie was last celebrated at De Kuip, they have taken on more unfamiliar roles as chasers this term.

Both have done that well recently - each winning their last six games - but momentum remains with Feyenoord, five points clear of the Amsterdam side and three more ahead of Eindhoven.

Armed with a significantly better goal difference too, they will be backed by capacity crowds from now until the summer, with all of their five remaining home matches already sold out.

Former Arsenal and Rangers player Giovanni van Bronckhorst (L) is leading Feyenoord's title challenge

Managed by former Arsenal and Rangers player Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the leaders now have just the league to focus on this term.

Elimination from the KNVB Cup and the Europa League might have been setbacks at the time but the reality is they could assist delivery of a 15th domestic title. Not a bad alternative.

While PSV are also out of the cup and the Champions League, Ajax still have the distraction of the Europa League and their round of 32 tie with Polish outfit Legia Warsaw to complete on Thursday.

Kuyt scored Feyenoord's equaliser as they drew 1-1 with fellow title challengers Ajax in October Kuyt scored Feyenoord's equaliser as they drew 1-1 with fellow title challengers Ajax in October

With Feyenoord taking on PSV, Ajax and fourth-placed AZ Alkmaar in their next five outings, it's a period which will undoubtedly define how their season finishes.

All of which brings us back to Kuyt, a mainstay in many a Liverpool team which tried, tried and tried again to bring the Premier League trophy to Anfield and still hasn't done it.

The closest he came on Merseyside was a second-place finish in 2009, when his 12 goals were not enough to stop Manchester United winning by four points.

Kuyt has since brought his own personal wait for a title to an end, claiming the Turkish Super Lig with Fenerbahce three years ago, and his experience in this latest run has been vital.

With a modest seven goals, he hasn't been prolific and, while a regular starter as Feyenoord's captain, the 36-year-old's lack of spark at times from midfield has occasionally let him down.

Even then, however, that perceived negative has brought the best out of a number of his team-mates.

Kuyt won his first career title at Fenerbahce in 2014 and is now closing in on a second at De Kuip

Jens Toornstra and Tonny Vilhenna have adapted alongside Kuyt, while the dependable Karim El Ahmadi has scored nine times.

Up front, Danish international Nicolai Jorgensen has been Feyenoord's most prominent striker since Graziano Pelle left for Southampton in 2014.

The league's leading scorer with 15 goals, just three of them have made a difference to results and many of them have come in the closing stages of wins which were already all but secured.

Kuyt spent six seasons at Liverpool but never won the Premier League, finishing second in 2009

Nevertheless, Jorgensen's contribution has been notable - enhancing the goal difference to the extent it's as good as another point - and bigger clubs may well come calling for him over time.

For now, his task is to help see Van Bronckhorst's team over the line first and a first goal against one of their two title rivals on Sunday would be most welcome.

Up to this stage, Feyenoord have lost only once - to bottom club Go Ahead Eagles - and they are unbeaten in 12 home fixtures, conceding just seven goals.

Van Bronckhorst and Kuyt won the KNVB Cup last season but are now focussed on a bigger prize

They have been in this position before, starting well before ultimately slumping and missing out on the silverware.

For Kuyt, back at the club where he started out as a teenager, it would be fitting if he claimed a first title on home soil at last with Dutch football's perennial nearly men.