Two sides separated by a single point in the middle of the Eredivisie table will square off in the seventh round of league fixtures on Sunday, as Heracles welcome PEC Zwolle to Almelo.
The hosts currently sit ninth after a creditable draw away at AZ Alkmaar on Thursday, while their visitors are just a point worse off following a defeat in their last outing, also against AZ Alkmaar, last Sunday.
Match preview
Following their promotion to the Eredivisie from the Dutch second tier last time around, Heracles head into the weekend having experienced a mixed start to the campaign, with two victories, two draws and two defeats coming from their opening six outings, having scored 10 goals in that time while conceding 12.
The curtain-raiser may have provided some cause for concern for the Heraclieden, as they travelled to Ajax and suffered a 4-1 beating, but they bounced back in impressive fashion to put their first points on the board, beating NEC and Excelsior 2-1 and 3-1 respectively on home turf prior to the international break, as Emil Hansson and Anas Ouahim found the net in the former and Bryan Limbombe, Justin Hoogma and Mohamed Sankoh scored in the latter.
That left them on six points from three outings at the pause in domestic action, but they have been unable to continue the winning run since returning, firstly suffering a 3-1 defeat away at FC Utrecht before playing out back-to-back draws heading into their seventh league contest this Sunday.
A trip to Volendam ended in a 2-2 draw, despite John Lammers's side going 2-0 up through Brian De Keersmaecker and Hansson, with the hosts eventually drawing level three minutes from time, before they most recently took a more creditable point away at joint-leaders AZ Alkmaar on Thursday, coming from behind to end their hosts' perfect start to the league season as Ouahim netted their leveller in a 1-1 draw.
With plenty of confidence to take from that result, and a start which certainly shows they are capable and competitive at top-flight level, Heracles will now go in search of a third league win of the campaign on their return to home turf with the chance to climb towards the top six at this early stage.
In their way stand a PEC Zwolle side who are also vying to return to winning ways after also meeting AZ Alkmaar in their last outing last weekend, having joined Sunday's hosts in winning promotion from the second tier last season.
Following their own climb, PEC Zwolle had to wait for their first points of the new campaign, suffering 2-1 and 3-1 defeats to Sparta Rotterdam and FC Twente in their first two outings, before scoring a first victory at home to FC Utrecht at the end of August as Ferdy Druijf netted the only goal of the contest from the penalty spot in the 69th minute.
They would then make it back-to-back three-point hauls in dramatic fashion away at Almere City prior to the break, as they led 1-0 through Davy van den Berg until the 96th minute, only for Joey Jacobs to equalise for their hosts and Apostolos Vellios to instantly restore the Blauwvingers lead and ensure they came out on top.
Like their hosts, Johnny Jansen's side have not been able to add another notch to their wins tally since returning from the break, albeit having played just two matches, as they firstly drew 1-1 at home to Go Ahead Eagles with Eliano Reijnders initially putting them ahead, before most recently hosting AZ Alkmaar last weekend and suffering a 3-0 beating.
Mayckel Lahdo, Myron van Brederode and Vangelis Pavlidis all found the net for the leaders in that meeting, and while PEC Zwolle should not take too much disappointment from AZ's fifth straight league win, they will be keen to reverse their fortunes with an important victory on their travels at the weekend to avoid dropping closer to the foot of the division.
Team News
Heracles should come into Sunday's game with an unchanged starting XI after their impressive midweek draw against AZ Alkmaar, with Nikolai Laursen and Jizz Hornkamp both remaining sidelined by injuries.
Lammers will again line them up in a 4-2-3-1 shape, with Mohamed Sankoh again set to lead the line, while Emil Hansson and Anas Ouahim will play important roles in the supporting trio having each netted two league goals so far this term.
Behind them, Brian De Keersmaecker and Marko Vejinovic will again line up in the engine room, while Stijn Bultman and Justin Hoogma will continue their partnership in the middle of the back four.
PEC Zwolle are dealing with several injury concerns of their own, with Lennart Czyborra, Kenneth Vermeer, Ryan Thomas and Samir Lagsir all remaining confined to the treatment room.
Ferdt Druijf will hope to keep his place up front, having notched up two Eredivisie goals so far this term, while Apostolos Vellios is also vying for a starting berth after settling for a substitute appearance last time out.
Sam Kersten is a mainstay at the heart of the defence and should again be joined by Thomas Lam, while Zico Buurmeester will continue to play a key role in the engine room in their 4-2-3-1 shape.
Heracles possible starting lineup:
Brouwer; Bakboord, Bultman, Hoogma, Willems; Vejinovic, De Keersmaecher; Engels, Ouahim, Hansson; Sankoh
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Schendelaar; Van Polen, Kersten, Lam, MacNulty; Buurmeester, Van Den Berg; Vellios, Thy, Reijnders; Druijf
We say: Heracles 2-1 PEC Zwolle
There is certainly not much to split these two sides, but with confidence from an impressive midweek result and home advantage on their side, we give Heracles the edge and back them to take all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
