PEC Zwolle and NEC both endured a tough first half of the 2024-25 Eredivisie season and will be hoping for improved fortunes when they get the second half underway with a meeting at the MAC³PARK Stadion on Saturday.
Having already lost twice to the home side this term, the visitors will be seeking to exact revenge for August's 4-3 defeat in the reverse meeting and October's KNVB-Beker exit.
Match preview
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Managing just one goal and two points from their three league matches in the month, there was hardly anything festive about Zwolle's December as they continued a largely underwhelming start to the campaign.
Johnny Jansen's men held fellow relegation candidates RKC Waalwijk to a 1-1 stalemate in their last league outing of 2024, with Oskar Zawada's opener in the 15th minute cancelled out by Dylan Vente.
De Blauwvingers are five points clear of relegation danger in the Eredivisie table, having picked up just 17 points from as many matches so far to sit 13th in the standings, level on points with their next opponent.
Despite putting on a more solid defensive record of late, Zwolle have yet to start picking up results on a consistent basis, largely due to a misfiring attacking unit that has yielded just 16 goals at an average of fewer than one goal per game.
Ahead of a daunting matchup against reigning champions PSV Eindhoven seven days later, Saturday's visitors will head into this weekend's matchup knowing a defeat could see them lose significant ground on the teams around them in the battle for survival.
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Billed as European contenders at some point, NEC have fallen off the pace massively in recent weeks and will be grateful for the mid-season break, which has stopped a further downward spiral for the time being at least.
A 4-1 thrashing by Willem II in NEC's final outing of 2024 perfectly summarised their recent run of results following a fifth defeat in six matches across all competitions either side of a 1-1 draw against Sparta Rotterdam.
Conceding the opening goal in a contest yet again after Ivan Marquez's own goal, Rogier Meijer's men managed to hit back through Koki Ogawa before strikes from Jeremy Bokila, Ringo Meerveld and Boris Lambert settled matters.
Despite finding the back of the net more times than every team outside the European places at the moment, the Eniesee are 12th in the standings, level on points with Zwolle and five adrift of a place in the top half.
A 2-2 stalemate against Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday saw NEC score more than once in a game for the first time since November, and Saturday's visitors will be keen to enjoy another fruitful day in front of goal.
Team News
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Long-term absentee Samir Lagsir is still unfit to play any part for Zwolle here due to an injury that has kept him on the sidelines for the best part of the last two years.
Younes Namli and Jasper Schendelaar are also out of contention for this one, with the former set to miss a fourth straight game due to a muscle problem.
Forward Dylan Mbayo was hauled off with an injury scare just over half an hour into the hosts' most recent outing, making him a huge doubt to play any part here.
Bram Nuytinck made his return to action in Sunday's warm-up encounter against Monchengladbach, but it remains to be seen in what capacity the defender will feature this weekend.
Twenty-year-old Basar Onal notched his first goal of the season in the aforementioned game, and the Turkey international will be keen to pick up where he left off.
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Vermeer; Van der Haar, MacNulty, El Azzouzi, Reijnders; Van Den Berg, Fichtinger; Velanas, Monteiro, Krastev; Vente
NEC possible starting lineup:
Roefs; Ouwejan, Verdonk, Alvarez, Lyratzis; Sano, Gonzalez, Proper; Onal, Ogawa, Van Crooy
We say: PEC Zwolle 1-2 NEC
A meeting between two struggling teams is usually the perfect opportunity for either of them to get back on track by securing all three points.
We are anticipating a keenly contested game here with the away side just about coming out on top at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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