PSV Eindhoven will look to extend their lead at the summit of the Eredivisie standings this weekend when they travel to face PEC Zwolle at MAC³PARK Stadion on Saturday.
The defending champions are four points ahead of Ajax at the top of table, while the visitors are on 17 points, just four clear of Sparta Rotterdam in the relegation playoff spot.
Match preview
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PEC Zwolle have struggled for consistency this season, managing just four wins in 18 games, and a defeat here could leave them uncomfortably close to the drop zone with a tough fixture list ahead, which includes facing Utrecht and AZ in two of their next three after this match.
Blauwvingers suffered their ninth defeat of the season last week, losing 1-0 at home to NEC, marking their fourth consecutive match without victory (W0 D2 L2) since the start of December last year.
During their winless run, Johnny Jansen's side failed to score in three matches, leaving them on a tally of just 16 goals this season, which is the fourth-worst in the division behind Almere (10), Groningen (14) and Sparta Rotterdam (15).
However, a slight positive for Zwolle is that they have conceded only 27 goals to date, which is fewer than the likes of top-half opponents Fortuna Sittard (28), Utrecht (29) and Heerenveen (33).
While all four of the hosts' victories this season have come here at MAC³PARK Stadion, they enter this match following back-to-back defeats in their last two and failed to score in either of those matches.
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That certainly does not bode well for the hosts chances in this match, especially when considering they lost the reverse fixture against PSV 6-0 back in October - their biggest defeat of the season so far.
Indeed, the Boeren have been rampant in the top flight again this season, already on 61 goals in only 18 games, 21 of which have come in just their last six league matches since the end of November.
However, Peter Bosz's side have seen their lead atop the league standings trimmed in recent weeks, having lost 1-0 to Heerenveen last month before being held to a 2-2 draw by AZ last week.
Additionally, the Red and Whites almost saw their KNVB-Beker campaign brought ot an end in midweek when they just about managed to see off Excelsior in a nine-goal thriller that ended 5-4 after extra time.
PSV have suffered two defeats this season - one more than they conceded across the entire last campaign - but they are still massive favourites in this match, having beaten this opponent in 18 straight matches since September 2015.
Team News
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Damian van der Haar was hooked at half time in the defeat to NEC last week and is flagged as a doubt for this match. The left-back will likely be replaced by Thierry Lutonda if he is not cleared for this weekend.
Jasper Schendelaar is expected to remain sidelined for another couple of weeks with a groin strain, meaning Mike Hauptmeijer will continue between the sticks, while Tristan Gooijer and Younes Namli are ruled out with a knee and groin injury respectively.
For the visitors, Luuk de Jong netted a brace last week against AZ to take his tally to nine goals for the season, and he will likely return to the starting lineup this weekend after Ricardo Pepi started the cup game in midweek.
Rick Karsdorp, Isaac Babadi, Couhaib Driouech, Adamo Nagalo and Sergino Dest will not make the trip to Zwolle this weekend due to injury, while Fredrik Oppegard is listed as a doubt owing to illness.
PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Hauptmeijer; Reijnders, Jensen, MacNulty, Lutonda; El Azzouzi, Van den Berg, Krastev, Monteiro, Mbayo; Vente
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Ledezma, Flamingo, Boscagli, Junior; Schouten, Saibari, Perisic; Tillman, Lang, De Jong
We say: PEC Zwolle 0-4 PSV Eindhoven
While PSV have delivered a few underwhelming performances in recent weeks, this is a match they will be expecting nothing less than three points from. The champs have scored 13 goals in the last two matches against this opponent and we feel they will notch up another big win in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
