PEC Zwolle and Willem II get gameweek 19 of the 2021-22 Eredivisie season underway with their meeting at the Mac3Park Stadion on Friday.
Both teams ended 2021 on a losing note and will be keen to kick off the new year by securing all three points in this one.
Match preview
Willem II suffered a ninth consecutive defeat across all competitions as they were beaten 1-0 by NEC Nijmegen on December 22.
Magnus Mattsson scored the only goal of the game seven minutes shy of half time to sink Fred Grim's men in Tilburg.
The Superkruiken have now slipped down to 14th place in the Eredivisie table but still possess a relatively healthy five-point lead over the bottom three.
Next up is a clash versus an opposing side who have only claimed one victory in the last eight meetings between the teams stretching back to 2018.
Off the back of a narrow 1-0 triumph in August's reverse fixture, Friday's visitors now set out with the task of completing a league double over their hosts.
PEC Zwolle were left empty-handed for the third league game running following a 1-0 defeat to Vitesse at the GelreDome on December 21.
Lois Openda's strike two minutes after the restart proved to be the difference between the teams in a hard-fought battle.
With no wins from any of their last eight Eredivisie matches, Dick Schreuder's men remain rock bottom in the league table having picked up just 6 points from 18 matches so far to leave themselves 10 points adrift of safety.
The Blauwvingers have struggled to find the back of the net on home turf, with their nine games yielding just four goals, which is an area that needs significant improvement if they are to turn what has been a disastrous season around.
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Team News
Oussama Darfalou and Kenneth Paal have missed Zwolle's last five games due to muscle injuries and the duo are not expected to feature on Friday.
Dean Huiberts and Sam Kersten are also out of contention for the hosts as they continue to battle with knee and hamstring injuries respectively.
Emil Bergstrom has made just nine appearances all-season long due to a leg injury, and the Swede is unavailable for Willem II.
Ulrik Jenssen is set to miss his first game since joining from Nordsjaelland in the summer following his sending-off in the defeat to NEC.
Twenty-three-year-old Gorkem Saglam grabbed the winning goal in the reverse fixture, and the midfielder will be looking to come up trumps for his side once again.
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Lamprou; Voet, Nakayama, Van Polen; De Wit, Strieder, Van den Belt, Reijnders, Saymak; Adzic, Tedic
Willem II possible starting lineup:
Wellenreutuer; Kohn, Owusu, Roemeratoe, Yeboah; Llonch, Saddiki, Meerveld; Nunnely, Svensson, Kabangu
We say: PEC Zwolle 1-1 Willem II
The sides head into the clash on a wretched run of results and will be desperate to avoid a loss. Consequently, we expect a cagey affair with little goalmouth action and a share of the spoils in the end.
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