PEC Zwolle vs Heracles Predictions

• PEC Zwolle have picked up five points from a possible 15 and currently sit in 15th place.
• Heracles have won three of their last five games and are in 8th place in the table.
• Zwolle have scored 37 times this season but have conceded 55 times.
• Heracles have scored 40 times but have conceded just 34 goals.

Zwolle hoping to pull away from relegation zone

PEC Zwolle currently sit in 15th place, just avoiding the relegation playoff place on goal difference. They’ve picked up a little bit of form in the past couple of weeks, beating Vitesse before earning a creditable draw against fellow strugglers Fortuna Sittard. They need to continue this form to try and pull away from the relegation places in what has been a disappointing season.

Zwolle have scored quite well this season, averaging 1.42 goals per game but they’ve really struggled at the other end of the pitch, where they’ve conceded 55 times. This is at a rate of 2.11 goals per game and is the biggest reason that they find themselves at risk of playing second division football next season.

Heracles chasing Europa League playoff places

Heracles currently sit in 8th place, just one place outside of the Europa League playoff places but the deficit is currently five points. The side have found some decent form in recent weeks, winning three of their last five games, losing just once in that period. They really need to keep that run going and a win here could cut that gap to just two points.

Heracles haven’t scored too many this season, finding the net 40 times in 26 matches at a rate of 1.53 goals per game, not a huge difference between their relegation threatened rivals this weekend. The main difference between the sides has been in defence though with Heracles only conceded 34 goals, 21 goals less than Zwolle and an average of 1.30 goals per game.

Different goals for these two sides but three points required

These two sides meet with a little bit of form behind both of them but their seasons have been very different with Zwolle fighting the drop and Heracles trying to make the jump into the Eredivisie elite. These two haven’t been in the goals much lately though with seven of their combined last 10 failing to beat the 2.5 goal line. We’re backing the same to happen again and think the 2.5 goal line will once again fail to be beaten.

Teams that are fighting for their lives often throw up interesting results but we can’t see them taking all three points from this game with Heracles having plenty of motivation of their own. We think this game ends in a stalemate which doesn’t really help either team in their individual goals this season. The most likely scoreline looks as though it will be 1-1, which is what we’re predicting in this contest.