Heerenveen and PEC Zwolle square off in the Eredivisie on Sunday in a game where the winner may not have to concern themselves with a relegation scrap later in the campaign.
As it stands, these two teams sit in 10th and 11th position in the table respectively, 10 and 11 points above the bottom three.
Match preview
Throughout this campaign, Heerenveen have been consistently inconsistent, with a two-game winning streak being followed by a five-match losing run at the start of the season setting the tone.
Either side of Christmas, Kees van Wonderen's side embarked on another period without success, this time lasting six matches, yet they have done enough in recent weeks to remain in mid-table.
After entertaining draws with AZ Alkmaar and Fortuna Sittard, Heerenveen came through a thriller with Ajax, prevailing by a 3-2 scoreline.
Although they could not back that up against Go Ahead Eagles in the next game, last week's 4-0 triumph at FC Volendam kept their opponents bottom of the table and ensured that Heerenveen enter the weekend in 10th spot.
While the Super Frisians possess a respectable home record of 17 points from 11 outings, they have only won one of their last four games at the Abe Lenstra Stadion.
From PEC Zwolle's perspective, they were recently able to put together a six-game unbeaten streak to ease any immediate relegation concerns.
Since the middle of February, though, Johnny Jansen's side have suffered two home defeats at the hands of Almere City and PSV Eindhoven.
Losing 1-0 to the former felt as disappointing as the 7-1 reverse to the runaway leaders last time out, with Zwolle having reached half time trailing by just a 2-1 deficit.
Jansen may welcome another opportunity to play on their travels as the Bluefingers are currently on a five-game unbeaten run away from the MAC³PARK Stadion.
Team News
Heerenveen will be without Espen van Ee for this fixture after he was sent off just 12 minutes after being introduced as a substitute against Volendam.
Van Wonderen was able to ring the changes once Heerenveen held a commanding advantage and could stick with the same starting lineup should no fresh injury issues occur.
Playmaker Anas Tahiri is most likely to be recalled having provided an assist on his seven-minute cameo at the end of that game.
Jansen is likely to make at least a couple of alterations to his PEC Zwolle side on the back of such a demoralising defeat to PSV.
Filip Krastev may come into the midfield for his first start since joining from Levski Sofia, while Apostolos Vellios is pushing for a chance in attack.
That may lead to Lennart Thy dropping into a deeper role, with Davy van den Berg and Odysseus Velanas both at risk of missing out.
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Van der Hart; Braude, Van Beek, Bochniewicz, Kohlert; Haye, Olsson; Haidar, Brouwers, Sahraoui; Amersfoort
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Schendelaar; Polen, Kersten, Lam, MacNulty; Azzouzi, Krastev; Namli, Thy, Reijnders; Vellios
We say: Heerenveen 1-1 PEC Zwolle
The two teams are in their current positions because of their inconsistency and it makes it a match that is difficult to predict. The easy choice is to opt for a low-scoring draw, a result that both sides would be content with as they bid to stay out of trouble.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
