After going four matches without defeat in the top flight, Zwolle would have been confident of claiming a result against an Ajax outfit which had lost their previous match.

However, John Stegeman's side were well beaten at the Johan Cruyff Arena with two early goals setting them on the way to a 4-0 defeat.

Still sitting in 12th position, the Blauwvingers still have plenty to be satisfied with after ending last season's reduced campaign in 15th spot.

Nevertheless, as long as they remain on two wins from a dozen outings and close to the bottom three, eye-catching victories over the likes of Vitesse will quickly be forgotten.

Having also succumbed to second-tier SBV Excelsior in the KNVB Beker, the pressure is on Stegeman and his squad to quickly get back on track in a game where they will be expected to gain three points.

Emmen have endured a dismal time since returning to action and the bottom-placed side now sit four points adrift of safety.

However, there are signs that Dick Lukkien's team are on the up with a draw against ADO Den Haag being followed by a cup victory over FC Gronigen.

Emmen will not get carried away with their comeback triumph against a club who currently sit in fifth spot in the league, but that success has the potential to act as the catalyst for an improved run of results.

Despite topping the club's scoring charts with five goals, Michael de Leeuw has now not found the back of the net in his last four starts.

PEC Zwolle Eredivisie form: LDDDWL
PEC Zwolle form (all competitions): DDDWLL

Emmen Eredivisie form: LLLLLD
Emmen form (all competitions): LLLLDW

Team News

Despite their heavy defeat at the leaders, Zwolle are expected to start with a similar side to the one which featured last weekend.

The likes of Sam Kersten, Rico Strieder and Jesper Drost could all be included after remaining as unused substitutes against Excelsior on Tuesday night.

Lukkien is likely to start with much of the side which featured from the opening whistle in Emmen's last league game.

However, Anco Jansen is in contention for a recall after scoring as a substitute in the cup, while Lucas Bernadou could come into the midfield.

PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:
Zetterer; Wermeskerken, Kersten, Nakayama, Paal; Saymak, Strieder, Huiberts; Drost, Reijnders, Duinen

Emmen possible starting lineup:
Wiedwald; Rhijn, Araujo, Bakker, Cavlan; Bijl, Bernadou; Laursen, De Leeuw, Pena; Kolar

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We say: PEC Zwolle 1-1 Emmen

Avoiding defeat in last weekend's relegation clash has kept Emmen within touching distance of getting out of trouble, and we expect them to build on that result on Friday. However, Zwolle are the draw specialists in the division, leading us to predict a low-scoring stalemate.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting that both teams will score (BTTS - yes) in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

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 51.67%. A win for Emmen had a probability of 24.8% and a draw had a probability of 23.5%.

The most likely scoreline for a PEC Zwolle win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.7%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.69%) and 2-0 (8.49%). The likeliest Emmen win was 1-2 (6.33%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.06%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 5.5% likelihood.