Gameweek 15 of the 2023-24 Eredivisie season sees newly-promoted PEC Zwolle entertain the challenge of NEC at the Mac3Park Stadion on Saturday evening.
Both teams returned to winning ways in their respective most recent outings and will be looking to pick up back to back wins this weekend.
Match preview
PEC Zwolle claimed a comprehensive 5-0 victory over FC Volendam when the teams went head-to-head at the Kras Stadion on Saturday evening.
Off the back of a relatively uneventful first half, a second-half hat-trick from Ferdy Druijf and goals from Odysseus Velanas and Lennart Thy got the job done for Johnny Jansen's men.
As a result, the Bluefingers have moved up to ninth place in the Eredivisie table and are now just two points off the last European spot.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have only come out on top in one of the last seven editions of this fixture across all competitions.
Currently on a run of just one win from five matches on home turf leading up to Saturday's game, the hosts will be keen to get the job done in front of their fans this time around.
NEC recorded their most impressive outcome of the season last time out thanks to a 2-1 win over AZ Alkmaar at the AFAS Stadion on Wednesday.
Rogier Meijer's men went into the interval with a commanding two-goal lead through strikes from Bas Dost and Magnus Mattsson before Vangelis Pavlidis halved the deficit 12 minutes into the second period.
With 15 points picked up from their 14 matches so far, the Eniesee sit 12th in the standings, two points off the top half and as many clear of the relegation zone.
Having recently ended a five-game winless streak on the road, Saturday's visitors now go in search of consecutive victories away from home for the first time in over a year.
Team News
Twenty-year-old Samir Lagsir remains out of contention with a long-term knee injury for Zwolle and will not play any part this weekend.
Following his hat-trick off the bench against Volendam, Ferdy Druijf could be rewarded with a place in the starting lineup for the home side here.
French duo Brayann Pereira and Alexis Tibidi are ruled out for NEC through muscle injuries, while Kas de Wit misses out through an ankle problem.
Bas Dost found the back of the net on his return to action for the visitors last time out, and the striker is expected to retain his place in the XI.
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Schendelaar; Van Polen, Kersten, Lam, MacNulty; Van den Berg, Buurmeester, Thomas; Velanas, Thy, Namli
NEC possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Baas, Verdonk, Ross, Wermeskerken; Proper, Hoedemakers; Larsen, Mattsson, Hansen; Dost
We say: PEC Zwolle 1-1 NEC
There is little to choose between the teams heading into this one, and Saturday's game could easily swing either way. That said, 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.
