Heerenveen are back in action in the Eredivisie when they journey to the MAC³PARK Stadion to lock horns with PEC Zwolle on Saturday evening.
De Superfriezen failed to pick up a morale-boosting result last time out when they fell to a mid-season friendly defeat at the hands of Almere City and will be looking to find their feet this weekend.
Match preview
Heading into the business end of the season, PEC Zwolle will feel satisfied with their performance in the first half of the campaign as they sit three points off the Europa Conference League playoff places.
Having returned to the top flight in May after finishing runners-up in the Eerste Divisie, the Blauwvingers have picked up five wins and three draws in their 16 matches so far to sit 11th in the Eredivisie table, one point and two places behind Saturday's hosts.
Johnny Jansen's men turned in a fine show of fighting spirit in their final game of the year as they came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw against Ajax at the Johan Cruijff Arena.
Brian Brobbey continued his fine form in front of goal as he scored a brace to put the 36-time Dutch champions two goals up but Lennart Thy struck twice in the final half-hour to force a share of the spoils.
While this marked another impressive result on their travels, where they are unbeaten in four of their last five matches, Zwolle now return home, where they have lost four of their last five games and picked up just four points from the last 18 available.
Heerenveen, on the other hand, were in action during the Dutch mid-season break as they suffered a 4-2 friendly defeat against Almere City at the Sportpark De Bakenbos last Saturday.
Goals from Rajiv Van La Parra, Jaden Pinas and a first-half brace from Layee Kromah put Almere in a commanding four-goal lead before Simon Olsson and Pelle van Amersfoort scored in a two-minute spell to halve the deficit.
De Superfriezen have now lost four games on the bounce across all competitions, including successive Eredivisie defeats against PSV Eindhoven and Volendam and a 1-0 loss to Vitesse in the Dutch Cup on December 21.
Heerenveen's drop-off in form has been owing to their struggles at the back, where they have shipped nine goals in their last four matches and conceded the joint-highest number of goals in the top half of the table (30).
Kees Van Wonderen's men currently sit ninth in the Eredivisie standings, level on points with 10th-placed Fortuna Sittard and just two points behind NEC Nijmegen in the final Europa Conference League playoff spot.
While Heerenveen will be looking to stop the rot this weekend and rekindle their quest for European football, results on the road offer little optimism as they have lost seven of their last eight away matches in all competitions since the start of September.
Team News
Zwolle will take to the pitch without Irish left-back Anselmo Garcia McNulty, who is currently suspended after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against Ajax last time out.
In his absence, teenage defender Damian van der Haar will push for his first league start of the season, forming the back four with Thomas Lam, Sam Kersten and skipper Bram van Polen.
On the injury front, the Blauwvingers will be without the services of 20-year-old midfielder Samir Lagsir, who continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a severe knee problem in February 2023.
As for Heerenveen, 21-year-old defender Hussein Ali will play no part in this weekend's game as he is currently away on international duty with Iraq at the Asian Cup.
Barring any late fitness issues, Ali should be the only absentee for De Superfriezen, who boast a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving Van Wonderen the luxury of a relatively full-strength squad at his disposal.
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Schendelaar; Van Polen, Kersten, Lam, Van der Haar; Buurmeester, Van den Berg; Namli, Druijf, Velanas; Thy
Heerenveen possible starting lineup:
Noppert; Braude, Van Beek, Van Ottele, Kohlert; Olsson, Haye; Nunnely, Brouwers, Sahraoui; Van Amersfoort
We say: PEC Zwolle 1-1 Heerenveen
There have been just one goal scored in each of the last four meetings between Zwolle and Heerenveen and we anticipate another cagey affair at the MAC³PARK Stadion, with both sides cancelling out each other's efforts and settling for a share of the spoils.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
