PEC Zwolle’s home weakness meets ADO Den Haag’s away struggles

The need for points is pressing for both sides near the bottom of the Eredivisie, but this meeting turns on a clash of vulnerabilities: PEC Zwolle have struggled badly at home, while ADO Den Haag have yet to find an away win.

A narrow gap near the bottom

After 10 rounds, PEC sit 15th on eight points, two places and two points above 17th-placed ADO. Both have lost six of their 10 league matches, and their goal differences are deeply negative: minus 12 for Zwolle and minus 10 for Den Haag. A win would offer either team valuable breathing room.

Home defence versus away attack

PEC’s last five have brought one win, one draw and three defeats, with five goals scored and 13 conceded. The wider home record is especially worrying: four losses in five games at MAC³PARK Stadion, 14 goals allowed and only five scored.

ADO’s recent return is slightly better in attack, with seven goals across their last five, but they have conceded nine. Their away record has yielded no wins in five outings, with two draws and three defeats; they have scored five and conceded 11 on the road. Both teams have conceded 23 goals in 10 league matches, underlining the defensive test facing each side.

Recent meetings favour ADO

ADO won three of the last four completed meetings listed, including a 2-1 victory at PEC in September 2022 and a 3-1 home win in February 2023, both in the Eerste Divisie. The teams also met in the Eredivisie in 2021, when ADO won 1-0, and in 2020, when PEC took a 2-0 away victory. The more recent history gives ADO an edge, though PEC’s home ground offers a chance to shift the balance.

Four absences to manage

PEC will be without S. Floranus and F. Krastev, who is out with an Achilles tendon injury. ADO are missing D. Barany with a thigh injury and L. Reischl with a groin injury.

The second-half scoring window

Both sides have found the net most often after the interval: PEC scored four of their 11 league goals between minutes 46 and 60, while ADO scored five of their 13 in that same spell. ADO’s defensive record in minutes 61-75 stands out, with nine of their 23 goals conceded arriving then. That period could be a key test for a PEC side seeking to make home advantage count.

Our prediction

PEC’s home record is poor, but ADO’s winless away run and similarly fragile defence leave the hosts with a route to take all three points. PreviaXI’s model leans toward PEC, whose home advantage and slightly stronger projected attack support a narrow result.

PEC Zwolle 2-1 ADO Den Haag