Sitting four places and just two points apart in the Eredivisie table, PEC Zwolle and Heerenveen will do battle at MAC3PARK Stadion on Sunday.
The hosts sit four points above the bottom three following a defeat last time out, while their visitors have climbed to ninth spot and only trail eighth-placed Fortuna Sittard on goal difference.
Match preview
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PEC Zwolle will aim to bounce back to winning ways on Sunday and continue their climb away from the Eredivisie bottom three, having seen an improved run come to an end last weekend.
The Blauwvingers sat in a concerning position in the relegation fight after 18 league games, as a four-match winless streak left them on just 17 points, but they would quickly improve their survival hopes with a pair of impressive victories in January.
Johnny Jansen's side met defending champions and then-leaders PSV Eindhoven and picked up a 3-1 victory, before thrashing Fortuna Sittard 4-1 away from home and being held to a 3-3 draw by Utrecht having led 2-0 and 3-2 thanks to Dylan Vente's brace and a Davy van den Berg goal.
Another tough test then followed away at AZ Alkmaar, and the Blauwvingers were unable to continue their fine run, eventually succumbing to a 2-0 defeat as David Moller Wolfe and Troy Parrott netted goals for the hosts either side of the interval.
Now leading the relegation playoff place by four points and the bottom two by seven thanks to their positive start to the new year, PEC Zwolle will aim to rebound from last week's setback and further improve their mid-table standing after dropping back down to 13th place.
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They take on a visiting side aiming to end a four-match winless streak on Sunday, albeit having climbed into the top half again with a pair of draws.
Heerenveen sat in a strong position on 24 points from 18 Eredivisie games after a pleasing run saw them pick up three victories from a four-match span around the turn of the year, but that would be brought to an end in a 2-0 home defeat to Ajax in mid-January.
Robin van Persie's side then travelled to strugglers Groningen and left empty-handed following a disappointing 1-0 loss, before being held to a 2-2 draw at home to Fortuna Sittard by an injury-time Rodrigo Guth leveller.
A meeting with Twente then followed last weekend, and after drawing level at two goals apiece through Milos Lukovic and Espen van Ee, they looked set to suffer another defeat as Ricky van Wolfswinckel put the visitors 3-2 up, but Eser Gubuz was able to snatch a point for De Superfriezen with an injury-time equaliser of their own.
Still with cause for concern, having played almost an hour of that game against 10 men, but having climbed back up to ninth spot while only trailing Fortuna Sittard on goal difference, Heerenveen will hope to get back to winning ways and crack the top eight on Sunday.
Team News
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PEC Zwolle head into the weekend without winger Filip Krastev, who is suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards, meaning Odysseus Velanas should come in from the outset.
They also have an unenviable injury list to contend with, as Younes Namli, Sherel Floranus, Thierry Lutonda and Tristan Gooijer are all set to remain confined to the treatment room.
Dylan Vente will continue to lead the line, having netted six goals in his last six Eredivisie games, while Davy van den Berg has contributed two from midfield in the last three outings.
Heerenveen have several enforced absences of their own on Sunday, with Ion Nicolaescu, Luuk Brouwers, Jacob Trenskow and Pawel Bochniewicz all remaining sidelined.
In the absence of Nicolaescu and Trenskow, who lead the squad's scoring charts with eight and six goals respectively this term, Strasbourg loanee Milos Lukovic will continue to lead the line, having netted his first goal for the club last time out.
Espen van Ee is a key man in the engine room and should again be joined by January arrival Marcus Linday in the middle of their 4-2-3-1 setup.
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Schendelaar; Aertssen, Graves Jensen, MacNulty, Van Der Haar; El Azzouzi, Van Den Berg; Mbayo, Monteiro, Velanas; Vente
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Van Der Hart; Braude, Kersten, Hopland, Kohlert; Linday, Van Ee; Jahanbakhsh, Smams, Gurbuz; Lukovic
We say: PEC Zwolle 1-2 Heerenveen
Aiming to kick on from their late equaliser last time out and end their winless streak, we back Heerenveen to come out on top against a PEC Zwolle side who saw their momentum slowed last weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
