PEC Zwolle and Heracles square off in the Eredivisie on Tuesday evening looking for the win which will move them into the top half of the standings.
Both clubs prevailed in their most recent matches, creating a 10-point advantage over the teams sitting in the relegation zone.
Match preview
Having recorded eight draws from their opening 18 league matches, PEC Zwolle are doing enough to keep themselves out of trouble in the Eredivisie.
However, John Stegeman wants to take his side to the next level, and a 3-1 victory away at relegation-threatened Willem II has strengthened Zwolle's chances of avoiding a battle to remain in the division.
Although they had to rely on their opponents having a man sent off when 1-0 ahead, Reza Ghoochannejhad's 12-minute hat-trick after the break was worth the wait.
With the schedule playing into Zwolle's favour for the next month, there is an opportunity to establish themselves in the top half of the table before tougher fixtures later in the campaign.
Heracles are in a similar scenario with only Ajax to come from the top five until the start of April, and Frank Wormuth will want to take full advantage of their fixture list.
On the back of a defeat to Feyenoord in the cup, Heracles responded with a late 1-0 win over Heerenveen on Saturday with Delano Burgzorg netting his third goal of the season.
Heracles have now prevailed in four of their last six league games, a run made all the more impressive with just five goals being conceded over that period.
Seven points have also come from their last four away fixtures, their wins coming away at Heerenveen and Groningen, who both sit above them in the table.
PEC Zwolle Eredivisie form: DWDLLW
Heracles Eredivisie form: WWLWLW
Heracles form (all competitions): WLWLLW
Team News
Stegeman will make a number of changes to his Zwolle XI, including handing a recall to Ghoochannejhad.
Thomas Lam and Immanuel Pherai are also expected to come into the team as replacements for Kenneth Pal and Mike van Duinen.
Barring any late fitness issues, Heracles boss Wormuth is likely to make fewer alterations to his starting lineup.
Ahmed Kutucu is in line to take the place of Ismail Azzaoui in the final third.
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Zetterer; Wermeskerken, Kersten, Lam, Polen; Huiberts, Nakayama, Clement; Reijnders, Ghoochannejhad, Pherai
Heracles possible starting lineup:
Blaswich; Breukers, Rente, Propper, Quagliata; Torre, Vloet, Schoofs; Van der Water, Kutucu, Burgzorg
We say: PEC Zwolle 1-2 Heracles
Aware of the reward for the winner, both managers may be prepared to throw caution to the wind on Tuesday. With that in mind, we are backing the visitors to come through an entertaining encounter, potentially in the latter stages if Zwolle show signs of settling for a point.
Top betting tip
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a PEC Zwolle win with a probability of 47.74%. A win for Heracles had a probability of 27.8% and a draw had a probability of 24.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a PEC Zwolle win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.7%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.43%) and 2-0 (7.93%). The likeliest Heracles win was 0-1 (7.06%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.53%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.6% likelihood.
