Aarau blew their chance of promotion from a position of maximum opportunity last season and the Brugglifeld club are in danger of missing out again, albeit in much less dramatic circumstances, if they don’t begin to find form. They sit in mid-table, seven points adrift of the promotion play-off spot and a further two points behind the automatic promotion spots. More was expected of Boris Smiljanic’s men, but they have been simply too erratic to mount a serious challenge at the top.

The matches have certainly been entertaining, only four of them have ended with less than two goals and ten have had at least four goals. 2-2, 3-3, 4-0 and 6-1 have all been scorelines on the board in Aarau matches this season. It started promisingly for them with only one defeat, a 2-1 home loss to promotion contenders Lausanne, in their first ten before enduring a patch of form that brought only two wins in eight.

It is perhaps no coincidence that injury to top scorer Shkelqim Vladi (8 goals in 8 games) in September against Basel in the cup coincided with the downturn the team experienced. Thankfully, Vladi is back from injury and was quick to return to the scoresheet in a 3-0 friendly win over Austria Lustenau on January 21st.

Thun fans also would’ve expected better than what they’ve been getting so far but this seems to be something that has been said in each of the last three campaigns since relegation from the Super League in 19/20. Truth be told, they haven’t looked capable of mounting a promotion bid in any of those seasons either. Down in seventh, they also haven’t been able to put together a run of consistent form and their seven draws, just one less than fellow strugglers Vaduz, is evidence of that. On a more positive note for FCT, they did enter the winter break in strong fashion after two wins and a draw in late November.

I predict Both Teams to Score. Aarau score plenty of goals and will be bolstered by the return of Vladi, but they can’t defend and have shipped fifteen goals in nine games at Brugglifeld. Thun score more goals away from home than they do at the Stockhorn but have also conceded sixteen goals. With such porous defences on show, I think there will be goals at both ends.

The new season kicks off at La Huerta stadium as 2022 Apertura champions Libertad take on a Guaraní shaken up in the off season. The Gumarelo only lost once at home in the league last year, but they come into this match with just one home win in their last four as they stuttered towards the end of the Clausura.

Daniel Garnero has lost some key players in midfield during the off season and at the time of writing is yet to replace them in the transfer window. Veterans Daniel Bocanegra and Marcelo Díaz emigrated to Nacional (Uruguay) and Audax Italiano (Chile) respectively while Iván Franco joined Houston Dynamo on loan. Young star Diego Gómez is also absent, currently representing Paraguay in the U20s South American Championships. Despite the departures they still boast a very strong squad especially going forward with Lorenzo Melgarejo, Oscar Cardozo and the likely return from injury of Héctor “Tito” Villalba.

Hernán Rodrigo López has picked up the reins at Guaraní following a relatively successful time in Nacional where he implemented a direct, counter attacking style. Like Friday night’s rivals they are missing some key talents, all-time top scorer Fernando Fernández has crossed the city to Cerro Porteño while youngsters Matías Segovia and Romeo Benítez are missing through international duty and injury respectively. However, the Aurinegro have made 12 signings in total and will be looking to the experience of Néstor Camacho and Marcos Cáceres to guide the team towards the top half of the table.

The last contest between these sides was a 2-1 win to Libertad who have dominated the recent meetings, going unbeaten over 90 minutes in the last nine matches. The only cheer for Guaraní was a penalty shootout win in the Copa Paraguay in September after a heated affair. In the 2022 Clausura Libertad averaged 1.6 goals per game while Guaraní conceded 1.45 and BTTS has landed in 10 of the last 12 league fixtures.