Unbeaten in each of their last six matches, PEC Zwolle entertain the challenge of Almere City at the MAC3PARK Stadion on Saturday evening.
The home side will be looking to complete a league double over their visitors having claimed a 2-1 triumph in September's reverse fixture.
Match preview
PEC Zwolle played out a share of the spoils against Go Ahead Eagles courtesy of a 1-1 draw when the teams locked horns at De Adelaarshorst on Sunday.
Johnny Jansen's men opened the scoring 13 minutes from time through Lennart Thy and were set to come away with maximum points before Mats Deijl restored parity in stoppage time with a well-taken penalty.
Consequently, De Blauwvingers remain eighth in the Eredivisie table, one point clear of the chasing pack in the battle for the final continental place.
Next up is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who are winless in the last 15 editions of this fixture dating back to 2007.
Off the back of recently picking up a first home win in four matches, Saturday's hosts now seek back to back wins on their patch for the maiden time this term.
Almere City showed great grit to secure a hard-fought point against AZ Alkmaar in last Saturday's goalless stalemate at the Yanmar Stadion.
Alex Pastoor's men had their backs against the wall for large spells of the contest but held firm to come away with a share of the spoils.
With 24 points picked up from 21 league matches so far, De Zwarte Schapen currently sit 12th in the standings, two points shy of the top half.
Ahead of a daunting assignment against Feyenoord eight days later, Saturday's visitors will be keen to secure a morale-boosting result in this one.
Team News
Samir Lagsir, Ferdy Druijf and Ryan Thomas all remain unfit to play any part this weekend as they continue to battle with knee injuries.
Zico Buurmeester is also a guaranteed absentee for the home side through an ankle problem which he sustained in his final outing of 2023.
Christopher Mamengi has not featured since November due to a long-term injury, and the defender is still a long way off making his return to action.
Thomas Robinet is currently on a five-game goal drought, but the 27-year-old Frenchman is expected to lead the line for the visitors nonetheless.
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Schendelaar; Garcia, Lam, Kersten, Van Polen; Van den Berg, Fichtinger; Reijnders, Velanas, Namli; Thy
Almere City possible starting lineup:
Bakker; Jacobs, Van Bruggen, Barbet; Cathline, Koopmeiners, Pena, Resink, Ritmeester; Robinet, Pena
We say: PEC Zwolle 1-0 Almere City
Almere City have been poor at the top end of the pitch all-season long, and we can see them drawing another blank in this one en route to a narrow defeat come 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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