FC Zurich vs St. Gallen

The fairytale season continues on for FC Zurich. The league leaders will have been watching with delight as Young Boys and FC Basel played out a 1-1 draw on Wednesday that confirms FCZ as winter champions in Switzerland for the first time since the 2007/2008 season. These are indeed some dizzy heights for a Zurich side that hasn’t finished higher than third in the league for a decade.

A comfortable 3-1 win away to Lausanne made it five wins in a row and nine games unbeaten. Their run of eleven victories in eighteen games this season is the best start FCZ have had in the Swiss Super League since the 2008/09 season. This surprising and spectacular start has really made everyone take FCZ seriously as title contenders, especially with FCB and YB struggling, and a final victory against St. Gallen would be the perfect way to round off the year.

St. Gallen’s couldn’t put an end to their miserable form at home to Lugano in the last round, even if they did end a three-game losing streak courtesy of the 1-1 draw they rescued with twenty minutes remaining at kybunpark. It simply hasn’t been good enough for FCSG who have claimed only four wins from seventeen this season.

With FCZ flying and FCSG out-of-sorts, there is no reason they shouldn’t pick up another victory to cap off a near-perfect first-half of the season.

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FC Luzern vs Servette

It has been a trying few months for FC Luzern but perhaps there is new hope on the horizon as they welcome Servette to the swissporarena on Saturday. Managerless since November 22nd, it appears they are closing in on their replacement in Mario Frick and can look to build a run of form to take them away from the bottom of the table.

There is more reason to be optimistic on the pitch too as FCL secured a creditable draw against fifth-placed Grasshoppers away from home to end a four-game losing streak. Truth be told, for the most part, Luzern have been difficult to beat, those four losses in a row came just after a run of seven games in which they had lost only once. They simply can’t buy a win though having not tasted victory since beating St. Gallen 2-0 at home back in late October.

Servette will have been frustrated by their inability to put FC Basel away in Geneva last weekend as they led twice but let their opponents back into the game in a match that they were the better side in. However, a run of four games unbeaten represents a vast upturn in form for the sixth-placed side ahead of their trip to Luzern.

A fixture that historically has plenty of goals in it involving two teams that are not exactly watertight at the back, home or away. With Luzern hinting at improvement, we expect both sides to hit the net.

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Lugano v Young Boys

There are not many who would’ve predicted FC Lugano to be involved in the title race in the final game of the first-half of the season, and probably even less would’ve predicted them to be occupying third place AHEAD of champions BSC Young Boys, but that is the scenario as the two finish the year at the Cornaredo.

Lugano are in inspired form and were unfortunate not to hold on to the 1-0 lead at kybunpark last weekend but they are unbeaten in six of their last seven games. Their only loss was a similarly disappointing night in Bern against their opponents on Sunday. They led the match but were pegged back after the half-hour and Wilfried Kanga shone with two goals in the final ten to take the game away from Lugano.

That victory was a relief for a YB side have been more inconsistent this season than any of their previous title-winning campaigns. A combination of a new manager, many injuries and European football has taken its toll. They simply haven’t been able to get going, conceding far too many goals and despite dominating their latest match against FC Basel, they still failed to pick up the win as they passed up glorious chances and conceded, yet again.

This will be no easy assignment for YB. Lugano already beat them at home in the cup this season and no side has conceded less home games than Lugano and FC Basel (7). Despite this, we fancy that YB will find the net at the Cornaredo but, as ever, they won’t be able to keep Lugano out at the other end.

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FC Basel vs Grasshoppers

One of Swiss football’s classic matches takes place at St. Jakob-Park on Sunday. The most successful side in Swiss football, Grasshoppers, visit a Basel side that took over their mantle for much of the last decade, but GC are back on the rise and enjoying a fantastic return season after their exile in the Challenge League in recent years.

FC Basel are enjoying their best season for a few years too and they are thick in the title race too. That being said, FCB haven’t been anywhere near their best as of late and their sluggish performances continued in their 1-1 draw in Bern on Wednesday. FCB were under intense pressure for much of the match and survived numerous scares, including having a YB penalty saved by Heinz Lindner, as Liam Millar’s first-half equaliser saw them earn a point.

Grasshoppers were surprisingly held by Luzern at home last weekend but have been an exciting team to watch this season, finding the net with regularity but conceding often too. They were also unfortunate in their 2-0 defeat to Basel earlier in the season at home and will fancy they can exact revenge this time around.

Despite their strong defensive record this season, FCB have not looked as secure over the last few weeks and GC most definitely have enough to hurt the 20-time Swiss champion on their own patch. With the league’s top marksman, Arthur Cabral though, Basel will find the net themselves. Goals expected.

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Sion vs Lausanne

It has been a case of “what might’ve been” for these two struggling teams in the last few weeks as both threw away the chance at massive results.

FC Sion led 2-0 in Bern against Young Boys last weekend after just sixteen minutes but a red card to Baltazar in the first-half eventually came back to bite them as YB took control in the second half and led 4-2 before a late consolation goal by Dimitri Cavare.

As for Lausanne, they were well-beaten by Zurich but were seconds away from winning at St. Jakob-Park in the previous weekend before conceding an even later equaliser. A point was, undoubtedly, still a good result given their current predicament but it just seems that when it isn’t going your way at the bottom of the table, it really isn’t going your way.

It is fair to say that Lausanne are in more dire need of kick-starting their season at the Tourbillon. They are already four adrift of St. Gallen in the relegation play-off spot and have only picked up one win from seven. FC Sion have had an unremarkable season but they know from experience how quickly they could be drawn into the relegation battle themselves.

I expect a tight game at the Tourbillon on Sunday with few goals and FC Sion just edging a contest against a Lausanne side that simply concede too many to have a shot at victory themselves.

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