Preview: FC Volendam vs PEC Zwolle - prediction, team news, lineups

FC Volendam and PEC Zwolle will both aim to arrest their respective slumps in form when they face off in Saturday's Eredivisie round seven meeting.

The home side are seeking an increasingly elusive first win of the season, while their visitors head to the Kras Stadion without a victory since mid-August.

Match preview

Finishing top of the Eerste Divisie with 82 points, Volendam wasted no time regaining promotion to the top flight after a disastrous 2023-24 campaign that saw them finish bottom but one with 19 points from 34 matches.

Rick Kruys's men were keen to prove a point on their return to the Eredivisie and went unbeaten across their first four league games before the international break, albeit with all ending in a share of the spoils.

Volendam played AZ Alkmaar and Ajax in the aforementioned opening run, so avoiding defeat would have been a confidence booster ahead of subsequent matches to come.

A 3-0 defeat to Go Ahead Eagles two Saturdays ago finally brought Het Andere Oranje's unbeaten start to an end before an agonising 2-1 defeat to Excelsior last time out courtesy of Lewis Schouten's stoppage-time strike.

This extended Volendam's winless run to nine matches, during which they have conceded the opener on all but two occasions.

Having not kept a clean sheet in 16 outings heading into Saturday's encounter, the hosts will acknowledge the need to up their attacking impetus to stand a good chance of coming away with maximum points this weekend.

Zwolle ended last season with just one defeat from their final nine league games, and consecutive wins against FC Twente and newly promoted Telstar to start the current campaign saw them pick up where they left off.

A 3-0 friendly thrashing at the hands of ADO Den Haag was followed by three straight losses against Utrecht, Ajax and Go Ahead Eagles, but Henry van der Vegt's men showed great character to come from behind on two occasions en route to a 2-2 draw against AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday.

Koen Kostons's double last time out took his tally for the season to four in six matches, and the summer signing is wasting no time endearing himself to his new employers.

Like their next opponents, Zwolle also tend to be caught out early on in matches after conceding the opener in five straight matches.

Still, De Blauwvingers will make the trip to Volendam this weekend with optimism, given their record in this fixture, which stands at six wins, three draws and only one loss from 10 previous editions.

FC Volendam Eredivisie form:

PEC Zwolle Eredivisie form:

PEC Zwolle form (all competitions):

Team News

Despite not having featured since round two, Anthony Descotte leads the way in terms of direct goal involvements for Volendam this term (three), and his absence remains a big blow.

After scoring 18 times in the second division to help the hosts secure promotion, Robert Muhren is yet to open his Eredivisie account for the season, but the Dutchman is expected to be named in this weekend's starting lineup.

Jasper Schendelaar has not featured for Zwolle since July due to a knee issue that will rule the goalkeeper out of Saturday's contest as well.

Odysseus Velanas is another long-term absentee for the away side with an ankle issue, and is joined on the list of absentees by fellow Dutchmen Nick Fichtinger and Damian van der Haar.

Jamiro Monteiro is back available to feature after missing the draw against AZ Alkmaar through suspension, although it remains to be seen whether he will earn an immediate recall to the XI.

FC Volendam possible starting lineup:

Van Oevelen; Leliendal, Mbuyamba, Verschuren, Ugwu; Bukala, Plat; Ideho, Muhren, Oehlers; Veerman

PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:

De Graaff; Floranus, MacNulty, Graves, Aertssen; Buurmeester, Thomas, Oosting; De Rooy, Kostons, Faberski

We say: FC Volendam 1-1 PEC Zwolle

Zwolle's point away at AZ last time out will give them huge belief that they can come away with maximum points from Saturday's encounter.

Volendam, meanwhile, have proven to be a tough nut to crack on home turf where they are unbeaten in seven of their last nine matches and consequently, we are backing a draw here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.