Sion v St. Gallen

It has been a rather eventful few weeks for FC Sion as the Valais club held Young Boys to a draw in Bern, lost out at home to Zurich in a match where they had two goals disallowed, held FC Basel at St. Jakob-Park and then won out in extra-time against promotion-challenging Wil in the Swiss Cup in midweek. Not to mention, star man Mario Balotelli was suspended after gesturing towards the FC Basel fans last weekend. The club also released a statement, one that followed Balotelli’s statement criticising the referees in Switzerland, that essentially stated that “the interpretation of the rules is different depending on the jersey worn” … it is never dull in these parts.

The club will be keen to get back to winning ways on the pitch as they host St. Gallen, a side that they beat at kybunpark earlier in the season. FCSG had a much simpler cup assignment in on Tuesday, winning 5-0 over sixth-tier Arbedo-Castione and securing a rare clean sheet in the process. It gives much-needed momentum after the 2-1 home win over Grasshoppers last weekend ended a run of seven league games without victory.

This game should keep the drama going for Sion and finish with both teams scoring. They have no Balotelli for this one, but they do have the firepower to trouble a very leaky St. Gallen defence that has conceded in their last 12 Super League matches, 11 of which have ended with BTTS. Sion have conceded in all but two of their matches at the Tourbillon this season. Six of the last seven at this venue between these two have also ended with BTTS.

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Grasshoppers v FC Basel

The two most successful teams in Swiss football history will match up once again at the Letzigrund on Saturday evening. In many respects, FC Basel were the successors to the Grasshoppers throne, winning 11 of the next 14 Swiss titles after GC’s twenty-seventh and most recent triumph in 2003. That run for FCB included a stellar period of domination in the early 2010s that brought eight titles in a row, culminating in joining Grasshoppers in the “two-star” club to signify a second haul of ten Super League trophies. Both sides have fallen on hard times since, especially GC who were relegated for the first time in seventy years, and are striving to challenge again.

Grasshoppers’ form has contrasted with their opponents all season long. The Zurich club started strongly before a 5-1 loss to FCB in mid-September sent them into a tricky patch. The 4-1 derby victory over rivals Zurich in late October is the only win they’ve managed in the eight games since that defeat in Basel, losing four of those matches too. As always seems to be the case with GC, they keep on scoring but can’t keep goals out at the other end. A 2-1 away defeat to St. Gallen last Saturday continues a remarkable record of 12 out of 14 Super League games ending with both teams scoring.

FC Basel started poorly in the league but have picked up form since that crushing win over GC at St. Jakob-Park. They’ve lost only twice since and are proving difficult to beat under Alex Frei, although they would like more wins with only three in their last eight. FCB did triumph in the rearranged fixture with Luzern on Wednesday and there is a better feeling around the team heading into the break.

GCs games bring goals and I expect that to continue against Basel. Alongside that BTTS statistic, 11 out of 15 of their games have featured Over 2.5 Goals. FCB haven’t always found goals easy to come by, but an open game and the frail nature of their opponents will help produce goals like in the six-goal match back in September. Three of the last four at the Letzigrund in this fixture have also produced this outcome.

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Young Boys v Luzern

Young Boys were stifled on their away trip to Servette last weekend but normal service resumed in the Swiss Cup against Lausanne on Wednesday evening. YB ran out 5-1 winners against the Challenge League club to book a place in the quarter-final and will be looking to enter the winter break on a high with the visit of Luzern to the Wankdorf on Sunday afternoon. While they’ve been shut out a couple of times on their travels, YB are a different animal at home, scoring regularly and often racking up convincing wins too. The last league match in Bern, the 3-1 win over Basel, was their fifth in seven games and all five of those wins have had Over 2.5 Goals in them.

Luzern’s cup match will have to wait until the new year due to the necessity to fit in a previously postponed league match with Basel that was also finally played in midweek. FCL lost out 2-0 in a game that they had good chances to equalise in before their visitors sealed the points in the final minutes. Mario Frick’s team can still be confident heading to the capital though, the loss is the first that they have suffered in four games. A reacquaintance with YB also provides the opportunity for revenge after Jean-Pierre Nsame’s 95th-minute winner stole the points at the swissporarena in a tight 2-1 win for the Berner club back in October.

This is a fixture that always delivers. The last nine meetings in a row have had BTTS and eight of those nine have had Over 2.5 Goals. YB are the highest-scoring home team in the league while FCL are the second-highest scorers away from home. For those reasons, I expect another thrilling game between these two and Over 2.5 Goals.

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