PEC Zwollevs.Ajax

The visitors have moved eight points clear at the summit of the Dutch top flight, while their visitors sit just two points above the bottom three.

Match preview

PEC Zwolle return to action on Sunday aiming to end a winless run and extend their lead over the Eredivisie relegation places.

In what has been a tough campaign in their bid to preserve their top-flight status, the Blauwvingers recorded consecutive victories in January, beating defending champions PSV Eindhoven 3-1 and Fortuna Sittard 4-1, to move onto 23 points from 20 league outings.

Johnny Jansen's side followed those wins up with a creditable 3-3 draw against third-placed Utrecht, but they have since added just one more point to their tally in three further attempts, firstly seeing the unbeaten streak ended in a 2-0 away defeat to AZ Alkmaar.

Then on the back of a 1-1 draw at home to Heerenveen, with Dylan Vente's early opener cancelled out on the hour mark, they most recently visited Heracles last Sunday and fell behind their hosts in a 4-2 defeat, despite leading 2-1 through Vente and Anselmo Garcia MacNulty, as Thomas Bruns levelled the scores and Juho Talvitie and Jizz Hornkamp added second-half goals.

Having now dropped back to 14th spot and seen their lead over the relegation playoff place reduced to just three points, PEC Zwolle will be keen to bounce back and extend their cushion again at the weekend.

They face a particularly tough test, though, as the visitors arrive in search of a 10th straight league victory in their title bid.

Aiming to win the Eredivisie for the 36th time in their history, having most recently prevailed in 2022, Ajax have built a lead at the summit of the table in style with nine consecutive three-point hauls dating back to mid-December.

Across those games, de Godenzonen have scored 20 goals while only conceding two at the other end, including four clean sheets in a row heading into the weekend, most recently following up a 2-0 triumph over Go Ahead Eagles with a 1-0 win away at Almere City last weekend thanks to Kenneth Taylor's early goal.

Francesco Farioli's side now face a quick turnaround following their return to continental action, having hosted Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie on Thursday and succumbed to a 2-1 loss despite leading early through Brian Brobbey, as Hugo Larsson drew the visitors level and Ellyes Shkiri gave them an aggregate lead.

Now leading second-placed PSV Eindhoven by eight points with 10 league games remaining, Ajax will aim to put their midweek disappointment behind them and record another top-flight win to take another step towards lifting the trophy before returning to Europa League action next week.

PEC Zwolle Eredivisie form:

W

W

D

L

D

L

Ajax Eredivisie form:

W

W

W

W

W

W

Ajax form (all competitions):

W

W

L

W

W

L

Team News

PEC Zwolle will remain without Younes Namli, Tristan Gooijer and Samir Lagsir due to ongoing injury issues, while Jamiro Monteiro will miss out through suspension after reaching five league yellow cards for the season last time out.

Dylan Vente will lead their line with confidence, having scored seven goals in their last seven Eredivisie outings to move onto 11 for the season, a tally only topped by two players in the Dutch top flight.

Elsewhere, mainstays Anouar El Azzouzi and Davy van den Berg will continue their partnership in the engine room of their 4-2-3-1 setup.

Ajax will head into the weekend without goalkeeper Remko Pasveer, who was forced off with an injury in their midweek Champions League tie, joining Wout Weghorst, Christian Rasmussen, Youri Regeer and Owen Wijndal in the treatment room.

In Pasveer's absence, Matheus should start between the sticks, likely behind a back four of Anton Gaaei, Josip Sutalo, Youri Baas and Jorrel Hato, with Farioli unlikely to make many changes despite the quick turnaround.

Oliver Edvardsen could take Bertrand Traore's place in a front three with Brian Brobbey and Mika Godts, while Kenneth Taylor leads their scoring charts with 12 goals this season from midfield.

PEC Zwolle possible starting lineup:

Schendelaar; Aertssen, Graves, Garcia MacNulty, Van Der Haar; Van Den Berg, El Azzouzi; Mbayo, Velanas, Krastev; Vente

Ajax possible starting lineup:

Matheus; Gaaei, Sutalo, Baas, Hato; Fitz-Jim, Henderson, Taylor; Edvardsen, Brobbey, Godts

We say: PEC Zwolle 0-2 Ajax

Written by

Sam Varley

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