Preview: PEC Zwolle vs. NEC - prediction, team news, lineups

PEC Zwolle welcome NEC to the Mac3Park Stadion on Saturday looking to record three consecutive league victories for the first time this term.

On the other hand, the away side go in search of an immediate response to a first defeat in six outings across all competitions last time out.

Match preview

PEC Zwolle secured a first away victory of the campaign at the 10th time of asking by beating Heerenveen 1-0 at the Abe Lenstra Stadion on January 22.

Bram van Polen opened the scoring from 12 yards in the 11th minute and that was enough to hand Dick Schreuder's men a hard-fought three points.

The Blauwvingers remain rooted to the bottom of the Eredivisie table but are now just six points away from safety off the back of two league wins on the bounce.

A chance to keep this fine run of form going lies in store against an opposing side with only one victory in the last six meetings between the teams.

However, that solitary defeat for Saturday's hosts in that span came in the most recent encounter back in August when they fell to a 2-0 loss in the reverse fixture.

NEC failed to come out on top on home turf for the fifth game on the bounce following a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Feyenoord two Saturdays ago.

Rogier Meijer's men took the lead in the 17th minute through Lasse Schone before an Orkun Kokcu brace turned the game on its head, after which goals from Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Guus Til put the result beyond doubt.

Having picked up 26 points from 20 games so far, The Enisee are ninth in the standings, six points off the last Conference League playoff spot.

Only five teams in the entire division have amassed more points on the road than Saturday's visitors, who are currently on a four-game winning streak away from home.

Team News

The Dutch duo of Sam Kersten and Samir Lagsir are both ruled out through knee injuries and will not play any part for PEC Zwolle this weekend.

Twenty-year-old Thomas van den Belt has directly contributed to three goals in his last three home appearances, and he is one to keep an eye on.

Oussama Darfalou is yet to open his account since joining from Vitesse back in January, but the forward is expected to lead the attack once again.

Joep van der Sluijs and Mathias De Wolf still await their first outing of the campaign as they continue to nurse long-term knee and ankle injuries respectively.

NEC might have to cope without the services of Souffian El Karouani, who recently crashed out of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations following Morocco's exit.

Ivan Marquez will serve the first of a three-game suspension off the back of receiving an 87th-minute red card for a clumsy challenge last time out.

PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Lamprou; Voet, Nakayama, Van Polen; De Wit, Van den Belt, Clement, Reijnders; Darfalou, Saymak, Redan

NEC possible starting lineup:
Branderhorst; Verdonk, Odenthal, Guth, Van Rooy, Duelund; Tavsan, Schone, Proper; Akman, Mattsson

We say: PEC Zwolle 1-0 NEC

Both teams have struggled to find the back of the net of late, so we expect a cagey affair with the home side narrowly edging out their visitors come the full-time whistle.

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