Heerenveen v PEC Zwolle — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Eredivisie · Saturday, 22 August 2026. Final score 0–2 (half-time 0–0). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 67% for over 2.5 goals. This match is older than our frozen ratings ledger, which keeps 30 days, so that figure is a reconstruction from pre-match data rather than a number we published at the time — a distinction worth making, because only the frozen ones prove what we actually said beforehand.

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Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals67%33%Over
Over 3.5 goals44%56%no pick
Both teams to score65%35%Yes

The result model puts Heerenveen at 66%, the draw at 18% and PEC Zwolle at 16%, from expected goals of 2.63 and 1.26.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Eredivisie has produced over 2.5 goals in 62% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Heerenveen have 1 in 2 this season (0 of 1 at home), PEC Zwolle 1 in 2 (1 of 1 away). Those records are pulled toward the league rate with the weight of about 24 matches — enough that two or three unusual games cannot swing a rating — giving 61% and 61%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 2 and 2 games played this season, last season's rates are still blended in and fade out entirely by game 40 — the point at which our testing showed they stop adding accuracy. A single season is part luck, so each club's record is first pulled toward the league average by 34 games' weight. That moves the two figures to 67% and 62%.

The mix. Weighted 40% home side, 40% away side and 20% league — the split that beat every alternative across 30,582 matches of testing — that gives 64%.

Head to head. These sides have met 6 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 50%. That nudges the number 5% of the way toward the head-to-head pattern — deliberately small, because fixtures change more than reputations do — landing on 63%.

Goal expectation. Separately a Poisson model built from attack and defence strength — using real expected-goals data where the league has it — puts this match at 74%, from expected goals of 2.63 for Heerenveen and 1.26 for PEC Zwolle. Folding in 30% of that view gives 67%.

This breakdown is generated from the same inputs the rating uses, so it cannot describe a calculation we did not perform. The full model is set out in the methodology.

Season form

TeamGamesO2.5O3.5BTTS
Heerenveen250%50%50%
PEC Zwolle250%50%50%

Head to head

15 Feb 26Heerenveen 4–2 PEC ZwolleO2.5
28 Nov 25PEC Zwolle 2–1 HeerenveenO2.5
16 Feb 25PEC Zwolle 1–1 HeerenveenU2.5
6 Oct 24Heerenveen 1–1 PEC ZwolleU2.5
3 Mar 24Heerenveen 2–0 PEC ZwolleU2.5
13 Jan 24PEC Zwolle 2–2 HeerenveenO2.5

More: Heerenveen season stats · PEC Zwolle season stats · Eredivisie table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.