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

Aiming to end a three-year winless run against Heerenveen, PEC Zwolle host the Super Frisians at MAC³PARK Stadion in the 14th round of the Eredivisie.

To achieve this, the team with the fewest goals as hosts in the division must find ways to exploit De Superfriezen’s average away results, as they strive to avoid losing for the third consecutive home match.

Match preview

After a 1-0 victory against FC Twente in August, PEC had to wait three months for another win in front of their supporters, recently beating Sparta Rotterdam 1-0 on November 8.

That victory may have followed a 2-2 draw with NEC, but the chastening defeats to FC Utrecht (2-0), Go Ahead Eagles (2-0) and PSV Eindhoven (4-0) left Henry van der Vegt scrambling for solutions to Blauwvingers’ home drought in front of goal.

While their four goals scored in home games are the fewest in the division, the 15th-placed team hope to draw encouragement from the recent two results in Zwolle — a 2-2 draw against NEC and a 1-0 win over Sparta — as they aim to create some separation from the danger area.

As it stands, the Zwolle-based club rank one spot above NAC Breda in the relegation playoff spot and one place above second-bottom Heracles, against whom they suffered a damaging 8-2 beatdown to start November.

While they have recovered by avoiding defeat in the next two games, picking up four points from an available six, Van der Vegt’s team hope to extend their unbeaten run to three.

Achieving this would improve Zwolle’s unbeaten run at MAC³PARK Stadion to three, matching a similar streak from January to February and a four-game sequence to close out the 2024-25 season.

A week after defeating third-placed AZ Alkmaar 3-1, Heerenveen travel to the province of Overijssel, intending to extend a three-year unbeaten streak in this fixture.

While three of the past four results have admittedly ended in draws, including their last two trips to Zwolle, the visitors will hope to start notching more points on their travels to boost European ambitions.

Robin Veldman’s team are ninth in the Eredivisie table, level on points with Twente in eighth, the final playoff spot for continental qualification.

The Super Frisians would be higher in the standings if results on their travels even remotely matched those at Abe Lenstra Stadion, where they have accrued 12 of their 17 points.

That is a stark contrast to their five points away from home, where they have been beaten in three of their six matches, winning one and drawing two.

Considering their difficulty in scoring as often in away matches as they do at home — seven goals on their travels are considerably fewer than 15 at Abe Lenstra Stadion — it remains to be seen whether Veldman’s team can build on last weekend’s 3-1 victory over AZ Alkmaar to achieve only their second away win of the season.

PEC Zwolle Eredivisie form:

PEC Zwolle form (all competitions):

Heerenveen Eredivisie form:

Heerenveen form (all competitions):

Team News

PEC will be compelled to make a change at centre-back after Anselmo Garcia McNulty was sent off against Groningen in round 13.

Although Blauwvingers suffered no apparent injuries in last weekend’s 2-2 draw, they could be without Jasper Schendelaar, Damian van der Haar, Samir Lagsir, and Odysseus Velanas, all of whom are sidelined.

While Koen Kostons and Kaj de Rooij have scored six and five goals overall, both have found more success in away games, with Kostons netting five on the road and De Rooij scoring four.

Heerenveen have a healthy squad heading into gameweek 14, with only Levi Smans (knee) sidelined for Veldman’s side.

Luuk Brouwers scored and provided an assist in the Super Frisians’ 3-1 victory over third-placed AZ last weekend, and the midfielder aims to add to his five goal contributions on Friday.

Leading scorer Dylan Vente notched his sixth league goal in the aforementioned victory; he has scored three goals both at home and away, highlighting his decisiveness in several situations as he faces old friends in gameweek 14.

PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:

De Graaff; Aertssen, Jensen, Ruward, Floranus; Oosting, Thomas, Monteiro; Shoretire, Kostons, De Rooij

Heerenveen possible starting lineup:

Klaverboer; Braude, Kersten, Willemsen, Zagaritis; Brouwers, Van Overeem; Trenskow, Vente, Rivera; Sejk

We say: PEC Zwolle 2-2 Heerenveen

With only two clean sheets for PEC at home — and three in total — Heerenveen, usually more effective in Friesland, should believe they can punish their Zwolle-based hosts on Friday.

Given that three of the last four matches have ended in draws, another stalemate might be on the cards.

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