Precious folks, gentle listener...Did I say folks, I meant rock stars! Yes, dear rock stars of the sport, let's dive headfirst into this highly anticipated Eredivisie matchup which no one is really highly anticipating but let's pretend, shall we?
Now the stats dictionary might be a little discouraging to read on paper, especially if you're an Almere City FC supporter. Their team's defending the goal with Nordin Bakker's 6.57 rating and 6 saves. Well, I guess those aren't terrible stats... if you're playing in a Sunday league! Ouch.
Now let's shift our gaze to PEC Zwolle. Ladies and gentlemen, wanna see a real goalkeeper? Look no further than Jasper Schendelaar who stole the show with his spectacular 8.03 rating and nearly tripled his opponent's saves, coming in at a solid 19.
Next in line for Almere City is Vassilis Zagaritis, who's donned the laurels with a 7.17 rating, and then you've got Baptiste Guillaume adding one to his goal tally despite some questionable accuracy with passing. Oh, Baptiste, don't try to be a magician with the ball...that's not your thing.
Turning our microscope back to PEC Zwolle, we've got Dylan Vente, who's a goal-grabbing magnet, nets in three in fact. And then you've got Filip Krastev and Dylan Mbayo – each netting a goal apiece. They're like the three musketeers, but with a soccer ball instead of swords.
If we take a nostalgic trip down memory lane, we see that the past matchups have been a tit-for-tat, one for you, one for me, dear. Almere managed a home victory but got it returned with a loss at PEC Zwolle's turf.
The regular season records are no more inspiring for Almere City FC with their unusual love for losses and draws. PEC Zwolle isn't faring much better either, resembling a see-saw more than anything else, with an equal share of losses and wins in their recent games.
Given the glut of humdrum stats, probability leans more towards PEC Zwolle completing some weird hat trick of first a draw, then a loss and finally a win. If my crystal ball isn't totally cracked, we might be seeing PEC Zwolle leading by a slim margin. But hey, I've been wrong before...occasionally...once, maybe twice.
Albert’s Prediction: PEC Zwolle by 1