Heerenveen vs Heracles Match Analysis and Prediction

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Heerenveen will play host to Heracles on Friday as both teams aim to move further from the bottom end of the Eredivisie table.

The two teams are currently level on points in 12th and 11th positions respectively, with a five-point margin between themselves and the bottom three.

After previously seeming all but safe from the threat of relegation with 25 points from their opening 17 league matches, Heerenveen’s cause has not been supported by a dismal run of form since late December, as they firstly had to endure a run of seven straight defeats in the Dutch top flight.

During that period, running until the end of February, they conceded 14 goals while only scoring twice, failing to add a point to their tally as a result.

That led to the dismissal of Johnny Jansen late in January, and interim manager Ole Toniasen was unable to turn their fortunes around, before they finally broke the losing run with a goalless draw away at Willem II.

Heerenveen made it back-to-back goalless draws against RKC Waalwijk last time out, with their only two points from the last nine games coming against sides below them, and they now sit just five points above the bottom three.

Heracles find themselves in a course somewhat opposite to their opponents, as they have given their hopes of survival a boost in recent weeks.

They have now collected seven points from their last five Eredivisie matches, firstly returning to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Utrecht before bouncing back from a narrow defeat to AZ Alkmaar with a 2-0 victory against PEC Zwolle through goals from Luca de la Torre and Sinan Bakis.

Following a 3-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven, Heracles added another point to their tally and leapfrogged Heernveeen with a goalless draw at home to Vitesse last time out.

Heerenveen vs Heracles head to head

The two teams have previously met on 35 occasions, where Heracles are leading with 17 victories while Heerenveen have won 11, and they have drawn in seven. Heracles have scored 63 goals and conceded 66. In their last five meetings, Heerenveen have won twice while Heracles have won in three.

Heracles 2-3 Heerenveen 14/01/20

Heerenveen 1-2 Heracles 08/10/20

Heerenveen 1-2 Heracles 20/12/20

Heracles 1-0 Heerenveen 23/02/21

Heracles 0-1 Heerenveen 04/12/21

Heerenveen latest home form

Heerenveen have recently been on a poor run of form at home, having lost in each of their five most recent matches. Their last home victory came on December 16 when they defeated De Treffers 2-0 in the KNVB Beker. In their last five, they have scored one goal and conceded eight.

Heerenveen 0-3 Feyenoord 22/12/21

Heerenveen 0-1 Go Ahead Eagles 18/01/22

Heerenveen 0-1 PEC Zwolle 22/01/22

Heerenveen 0-1 NEC 13/02/22

Heerenveen 1-2 Utrecht 27/02/22

Heerenveen latest away form

Heerenveen have recently been on a poor run of form on the road, having failed to win in any of their five most recent matches. Their last away victory came on December 19 when they defeated Cambuur 2-1. In their last five, they have scored one goal and conceded seven.

Twente 2-0 Heerenveen 15/01/22

Fortuna Sittard 2-0 Heerenveen 05/02/22

PSV 3-1 Heerenveen 20/02/22

Willem II 0-0 Hereenveen 05/03/22

RKC Waalwijk 0-0 Heerenveen 12/03/22

Heracles latest home form

Heracles have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in any of their six most recent matches. Their last home defeat came on December 4 when they lost 1-0 to Heerenveen. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded two.

Heracles 1-1 Cambuur 22/12/21

Heracles 1-1 Go Ahead Eagles 23/01/22

Heracles 1-0 Utrecht 11/02/22

Heracles 2-0 PEC Zwolle 26/02/22

Heracles 0-0 Vitesse 13/03/22

Heracles latest away form

Heracles have recently been on a poor run of form on the road, having failed to win in each of their ten most recent matches. They lost 4-1 to AZ in the KNVB Beker on December 15. In their last five matches, they have scored three goals and conceded 12.

AZ 4-1 Heracles 15/12/21

NEC 0-0 Heracles 15/01/22

Ajax 3-0 Heracles 06/02/22

AZ 2-1 Herecles 19/02/22

PSV 3-1 Heracles 06/03/22

Heerenveen news

Heerenveen remain without Pawel Bochniewicz due to a long-term injury, while Tibor Halilovic has not returned to full fitness and may miss out again.

Sven van Beek, Joost van Aken and Nick Bakker should again feature in defence, with Filip Stevanovic and Arjen van der Heide featuring in the front line.

Heracles news

Heracles have several injuries to deal with, as Ismail Azzaoi, Kaj Sierhuis and Elias Oubella are all ruled out of Friday’s game.

Sinan Bakis is set to lead the line in the absence of Sierhuis, and will likely be joined by Anas Ouahim, with Nikolai Laursen supporting from the right-hand side.

Prediction and Odds

Heracles will come in the game with more momentum courtesy of their recent improvement. However, the hosts have started to strengthen up at the back and will be keen to put an end to the losing run.

Those consecutive clean sheets with the visitors’ poor away record could result to a draw here.

Odds: 1 2.35 X 2.05 2 2.20