De Graafschap vs PEC Zwolle Predictions

De Graafschap have struggled more than the other newly promoted clubs so far this season and find themselves sitting second from bottom in the Eredivisie ahead of Saturday’s home game against Zwolle. The visitors sit just two places and one point ahead of their hosts and both teams have lost their last three league games and are in need of a victory this weekend.

De Graafschap couldn’t live with Utrecht when the side met at Stadion Galgenwaard last weekend, losing the game by five goals to nil. Goals from van de Streek, Janssen, and Kerk inside the opening twenty-five minutes saw Utrecht take a commanding lead into the half time break. De Graafschap managed to steady the ship for the majority of the second half, but in the final ten minutes Venema scored twice for the hosts to wrap up a 5-0 win.

De Graafschap only had 44% of the overall possession, one corner, and one shot on target during their trip to Utrecht and will need to put in a much better performance at home to Zwolle if they wish to avoid a fifth straight defeat in all competitions. Seeing as this weekends hosts failed to score last time out, El Jebli and Serrarens remain the clubs top scorers in the league with three goals apiece and both are fit and ready to play on Saturday.

Zwolle’s van Crooij and van Duinen joint top score for the visitors with four Eredivisie goals each, and with both free from suspension and injury, they are expected to start against De Graafschap. The first half of Zwolle’s game against Den Haag was packed with goalmouth action, starting with Lam’s seventh minute opener for the hosts. Den Haag were level in the seventeenth minute when top scorer El Khayati converted a penalty, but less than sixty seconds later found themselves behind once again when Leemans made it 2-1 to Zwolle.

El Khayati’s excellent start to the season continued in the twenty-fourth minute when he scored his second of the game to bring Den Haag back onto level terms for the second time in the first half. The second forty-five minutes proved to be a much tighter and tenser affair as both teams shored up their defences and found goal scoring opportunities hard to come by, but in the eighty-third minute Den Haag produced one last meaningful attack and Kuipers won the game for the visitors 3-2.

Zwolle were unfortunate not to take something from the game after having 63% of the overall possession, but the hosts were wasteful in front of goal and Den Haag always looked the more dangerous in the final third. Neither of the clubs can claim to be in good form ahead of Saturday’s match, but with one win, one draw, along with four defeats from their last six matches, it’s Zwolle who just edge the form guide.

We’re confident that both teams will score and that over 2.5 goals will be produced in Saturday’s game, and have backed Zwolle to run out 4-2 winners. Four of the last five matches between these two clubs have seen both teams score and produced over 2.5 goals. Four of De Graafschap’s and three of Zwolle’s last six matches have seen both teams score and produced over 2.5 goals. The visitors have won their last four matches against De Graafschap, and we believe that trend will continue this weekend as well.