Two teams looking to steer clear of the relegation zone in the Eredivisie table will go head-to-head at the Asito Stadium on Sunday as Heracles and PEC Zwolle face off.
The hosts were emphatically thumped in their last league outing and have some soul-searching to do leading up to this one, while the away side had to make do with a point.
Match preview
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After going unbeaten across their opening eight competitive matches of 2025, Heracles headed into a run of consecutive matches against Ajax and AZ Alkmaar with the wind in their sails.
Erwin van de Looi's men hardly laid a glove on Ajax as they fell to a 4-0 defeat when the sides went head-to-head courtesy of strikes from Mika Godts, Brian Brobbey, Oliver Edvardsen and Davy Klaassen.
Albeit all to no avail, the Heraclieden put on an improved display against AZ Alkmaar in Thursday's KNVB Beker semi-final tie, which ended in a penalty shootout defeat following a 2-2 stalemate at the end of normal time.
With their remaining hopes of silverware now extinguished, Heracles must now turn their full attention to top-flight safety, with only four separating them from the bottom three as things stand.
Ahead of clashes against fellow relegation candidates Fortuna Sittard and Heerenveen, Sunday's hosts cannot afford to get themselves further sucked into the battle for survival, and all three points this weekend would be a welcome boost.
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PEC Zwolle were involved in a share of the spoils for the second home game running courtesy of a 1-1 stalemate against Heerenveen at the MAC3PARK Stadion on February 16.
A Dylan Vente strike just after 10 minutes got Johnny Jansen's men off to a bright start before Alireza Jahanbakhsh levelled matters with a fine finish just shy of the hour mark.
For Zwolle, the draw against Heerenveen will surely be seen as two points lost rather than a point gained as they continued their recent trend of surrendering leads.
Vente's opener last time out was his seventh goal in as many matches, and Blauwvingers will need their summer signing to continue his hot streak in front of goal as they look to put some daylight between themselves and the bottom three.
Coming out on top in four of the most recent five meetings, Sunday's visitors have fared well against their hosts of late, which should give them the belief that they can secure maximum points on the road for only the second time in league action this term.
Team News
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Long-term absentee Samir Lagsir is still unfit to play any part for Zwolle here due to a knee injury that has kept him on the sidelines for the best part of the last two years.
Younes Namli and Tristan Gooijer are also out of contention through groin and knee injuries respectively, with the latter sidelined since the opening day of the season.
Defender Damian van der Haar was hauled off with an injury scare after one hour against Heerenveen, making the defender a doubt for this weekend's encounter.
Nikolai Laursen is still sidelined with a knee problem and will not play any part for Heracles, while Sava-Arangel Cestic is also unavailable due to an ankle issue.
Suf Podgoreanu has found the back of the net in two of his last three matches, and the Israel international will be looking to deliver the goods for the hosts.
Heracles possible starting lineup:
De Keijzer; Rots, Mesik, Mirani, Wieckhoff; De Keersmaecker, Scheperman; Podgoreanu, Bruns, Talvitie; Kulenovic
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Schendelaar; Lutonda, MacNulty, Graves, Aertssen; El Azzouzi, Van Den Berg; Mbayo, Monteiro, Velanas; Vente
We say: Heracles 1-1 PEC Zwolle
Judging their respective league positions, there is little to choose between the sides, so Sunday's game could easily swing either way.
We are backing a share of the spoils with honours even at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
