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Zwolle vs Utrecht Prediction & Betting tips
The numbers four and five of the Eredivisie kick off a new round of play in Overijssel on Friday-evening. In case of a victory or a draw, PEC Zwolle will stay on top of FC Utrecht, but the visitors from Utrecht will win over the Zwollenaren.
Zwolle :
Two weeks ago, league-leader PSV visited PEC Zwolle and the Zwolle players played a good match against the team from Eindhoven, but still had to make it 0-1 in the injury time. Against the visitors from Brabant, the men of John van ‘t Schip were at least entitled to a draw, although a victory had not been undeserved to the leader. In spite of the great game of the Zwolle players, they were empty-handed two weeks ago, but that was not so much a visit to SC Heerenveen last week. The Frisians came early in the Abe Lenstra Stadium at an 1-0 lead, but goals from Nicolas Freire and Mustafa Saymak ensured that the Blauwvingers returned home with three runs.
The victory over SC Heerenveen was unjustified and Van ‘t Schip also admitted after the game, but of course the three points in Friesland compensate for the points that the Swollenans left against PSV. PEC Zwolle already has no less than 25 points and the Sledgers do not have to worry about a degradation battle, despite the fact that the first priority this season was not to enter the danger zone. Because of the great start this season, Van ‘t Schip can quietly try to participate in the battle for a play-off ticket with this team and with this material it should not be a problem for the Zwolle players to finish in the top 7. Certainly not because the lead at number eight Heracles Almelo is already seven points and the Almeloans have to catch a lot of points to actually become a danger for teams that are already in the top 7.
That PEC Zwolle is currently so high in the Eredivisie has to do with the fact that the Swollenans only dropped once this year through the lower limit. The Blauwvingers lost at the start of this season with 3-0 of Ajax in Amsterdam, but in the remaining twelve games the Zwollenaren were never completely eliminated by the opponent. Moreover, PEC Zwolle can lean on a solid defense, because the Swollenaren (12 goals) had to catch the few goals against Ajax (11 goals).
Utrecht :
With ten points from the last four matches in the Eredivisie, FC Utrecht has again become one of the top five. The Utrecht team played equal against NAC Breda (2-2) and won successively from Ajax (1-2), Excelsior (3-1) and last Sunday with 1-3 from Sparta Rotterdam. At the Castle, not all Sparta supporters had found their seat yet and the visitors from Utrecht were already leading 0-1 by a goal by Zakaria Labyad, who also made the 1-2 from a free kick on behalf of the Domstedelingen. In the end it was Gyrano Kerk who, five minutes after the 1-2 of Labyad, ended the game, but after the game all attention went to the two goals of Labyad.
The 24-year-old Moroccan also made both goals in Amsterdam visit Ajax, but was suspended against Excelsior last week. On Spangen he managed to make the fastest Eredivisie-goal of this season and he personally shot the visitors from Utrecht to victory. That Labyad can play nice football, of course, we know from his time in Eindhoven at PSV, but FC Utrecht coach Erik ten Hag knows the attacker perfectly to hit and that has already in this calendar year many have paid off; Labyad was already involved in fifteen goals in 2017 (10 goals and 5 assists) and is thus the most involved of all FC Utrecht players in goals of the Domstedelingen.
After an autumn dip FC Utrecht has managed to regain the last matches and they are right on the fifth place in the competition, although there is definitely more for this team. Of course the Domstars are fortunate that Feyenoord performs so badly this season and they therefore still stand above the team from Rotterdam, but still it should be possible for this team to finish in the top 4 if they do not suffer too much from injuries and suspensions .
Zwolle vs Utrecht head to head matches
18.02.17 ERE Utrecht Zwolle 3 : 1
14.12.16 KNV Zwolle Utrecht 1 : 2
10.09.16 ERE Zwolle Utrecht 1 : 1
15.05.16 ERE Utrecht Zwolle 5 : 2
12.05.16 ERE Zwolle Utrecht 0 : 0