The final match of matchday nine in the 2024-25 Eredivisie season will see PEC Zwolle facing off against NAC Breda at MAC³PARK Stadion on Sunday afternoon.
Both these sides have made mixed starts to the season, with the hosts currently in 13th place with nine points, while the visitors are right behind them in 14th with eight points.
Match preview
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PEC Zwolle made the worst possible start to the season, losing their first three games in succession, conceding seven goals during that period, while only managing to find the back of the net once.
However, they notched up a solid 3-0 victory over Heracles ahead of the September international break, and since then, their performances and results have notably improved.
Last time out, Blauwvingers played out a 1-1 draw against Heerenveen on the road, which saw them take their record to two wins and two draws in their last five, while the only defeat conceded in that period was against high-flyers AZ Alkmaar last month.
At home, Johnny Jansen's side have split their four games this season with two wins and two losses, though it is worth noting that the two defeats they conceded were against formidable opponents in Feyenoord and AZ.
When these last two faced off, the match ended in goalless, though that result extended Zwolle's unbeaten record against this opponent to six matches, including four wins and two draws dating back to January 2015.
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Meanwhile, newly promoted NAC have made a fairly decent start to life in the top flight, picking up nine points over their first eight games, which sees them currently six points above the dotted line.
Notably, while the Pearl of the South have lost five games this season, three of those defeats were against opponents currently in the top six in the league standings, including Utrecht (2-1), Feyenoord (2-0) and Twente (1-0).
The Yellow Army have also delivered a few impressive performances as well, perhaps none more so than stunning Ajax 2-1 back in gameweek two when Jan Van den Bergh netted the winner in stoppage time.
However, in order to open further daylight between themselves and the drop, NAC will need to find improvement in their away performances, as they have lost all four league matches on the road this term and only scored once, while conceding 11.
Team News
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PEC Zwolle currently have two long-term absentees to contend with in the form of Samir Lagsir and Tristan Gooijer, both of whom are only expected to return from serious knee injuries next year.
Braydon Manu has now missed the last seven matches with a muscle injury and is ruled out of this match. He will be joined on the sidelines this week by Olivier Aertssen (knock) and Simon Graves Jensen (knee).
NAC, on the other hand, will have to make do without the services of teenager Sana Fernandes, who will begin the first of his three-match suspension for the straight red he was shown in the win against NEC ahead of the international break.
In terms of injury absentees, the visitors are set to be without Cherrion Valerius (knee), while midfield duo Raul Paula and Aime Omgba are flagged as major doubts for this trip to Zwolle.
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Schendelaar; Floranus, El Azzouzi, MacNulty, Van der Haar; Van den Berg, Namli, Monteiro; Krastev, Vente, Mbayo
NAC Breda possible starting lineup:
Bielica; Kemper, Greiml, Van den Bergh, Lucassen; Mol, Leemans, Balard; Kostorz, Omarsson, Sauer
We say: PEC Zwolle 1-0 NAC Breda
After a very poor start to the season, Zwolle seemed to have found a good rhythm leading up to the international break and will see this as a fixture they should win given their six-match unbeaten record against this opponent.
NAC have put on a few solid performances in their first season back in the top flight, but their away record is still among the worst in the division, and we feel they will struggle to take anything away from this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
