Stade Lausanne-Ouchy v SC Kriens (Challenge League)

The Swiss Football kicks off on Friday night. Last weekend was a reminder for Stade Lausanne-Ouchy of just how cruel the Swiss Challenge League can be. They had been in a decent but unremarkable run of form over the last eight games, were making themselves hard to beat and sat steady in sixth before a 5-2 loss to second-placed Aarau, in a match that they had levelled from 2-0 down before allowing to slip away in the final seventeen minutes.

After a week of licking their wounds, SLO couldn’t have asked for a better tonic than the visit of SC Kriens to the Pontaise. While the league is tightly compacted from 1st to 9th (only ten points separate the two positions), SC Kriens are cut adrift by a mammoth nineteen points, and need a miracle if they are to be saved from relegation this season.

SC Kriens did pick up their only victory of this season in the reverse fixture back in October but were also trounced 5-0 on their visit to the Pontaise earlier in the season. SLO are also a strong proposition at home, losing only twice this season, both times to Aarau. They will almost certainly bounce back with victory over a side that seems to have no answers to their problems.

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Yverdon-Sport v Neuchatel Xamax (Challenge League)

Yverdon-Sport endured a dismal start to life back in the Challenge League this season as they waited six games before delivering their first victory but they haven’t looked back since. They occupy fifth position in the table, are only six points away from an unlikely promotion play-off spot, haven’t lost in their last six in all competitions and advanced to their first Swiss Cup semi-final since 2001 in midweek with their 1-0 home win over Lausanne.

YS also boast the best home record in the league with six wins from their last seven matches and only seven goals conceded in ten games. Three of those goals came in their only home defeat, a 3-1 loss to Stade Lausanne-Ouchy in the first game of the season. All of this will have Yverdon in a confident mood for the visit of Neuchatel Xamax.

Xamax are down in sixth and have been wildly inconsistent again in the second-tier. They will have been glad to see their four-game winless streak ended with a 2-1 home victory over Schaffhausen last weekend but they will struggle again on their travels.

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Winterthur v FC Wil (Challenge League)

FC Winterthur are enjoying a fruitful start to life under new manager Alexander Frei. The former FC Basel striker and FC Wil manager made the switch to his new club in December and after delivering a routine 3-0 home victory over SC Kriens in his first match, his side followed it up with a creditable draw in the principality against promotion rivals Vaduz that keeps them in contention in third place, just two points behind both the play-off spot but also two points adrift of first place and the league title.

FC Wil make the short journey across to the Schutzenwiese and wherever this team goes lately, the goals follow. In just twenty games this season, Wil have scored 39, conceded 42 and their last five matches alone were packed with twenty-eight goals. The previous two games between these sides resulted in high-scoring defeats for FC Wil: 3-1 on the road and 5-3 at home and their reunion with their former manager promises more of the same.

Winterthur have scored more goals at home than all teams other than FC Wil while the visitors have conceded only less than bottom club Kriens but are, as we know, far from goal-shy themselves. All signs point to an exciting, high-scoring fixture on Saturday.

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St. Gallen v Servette (Super League)

After a stagnant first half of the season, FC St. Gallen have returned from the winter break rejuvenated and bolstered by their investments in the January transfer window. Their crushing 5-1 victory away to Lausanne was followed up by a remarkable comeback at home to champions Young Boys, scoring twice in the last nine minutes after trailing 3-0 as the game entered the final half-hour. They also come into this fresh from their 2-1 Swiss Cup quarter-final win over FC Basel’s cup conquerors, Etoile-Carouge on Wednesday.

Servette have had a mixed bag since their return from the break, they lost 1-0 away to league leaders FC Zurich but were more than a match for the home side and they really should’ve taken something from the game. They followed this up in the last round with a 1-0 win over Lausanne at the Stade de Geneve that had its fair share of nervy moments before the points were sealed.

Neither of these sides can keep the goals out and while SFC have, rather surprisingly, a better away record than at home these days, they have scored 15 and conceded 15 in their ten matches on their travels. St. Gallen have only won twice this season at kybunpark and have also scored 15 in their 10 matches, conceding 19. With this in mind, both teams can find the net in a tight game on Saturday.

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