Yverdon-Sport came through a tricky away match in Ticino against Bellinzona last weekend, winning 2-0 to maintain their unlikely title challenge as they moved level on points with league leaders FC Wil. Five wins from their last nine games is a fantastic record for a team that can probably lay claim to being the most entertaining in the division having scored more goals (40) than anyone else and with a goals against tally (33) that matches up to Neuchatel Xamax at the very bottom of the table. As unconventional as that formula may be, it seems to be working, and spirits are high ahead of Round 20.

Stade Lausanne-Ouchy are formidable away opponents and will be keen to bounce back from a home defeat to Lausanne. Second only to opponents YS for points gained away from home, SLO have lost out only to Yverdon and bottom club Xamax away from the Pontaise this season. They have also conceded only eight goals in those nine matches, considerably less than everyone else in the league. With only one point separating the two teams before kick-off on Friday evening, it is sure to be a fascinating encounter at the Municipal.

Two teams that score a lot but don’t concede often. As strong as these defences have been, I struggle to see SLO being able to keep out the firepower of the home side, especially with the top scorer (Koro Kone, 12 goals) in the league leading the line. Yverdon have conceded in their last two home games to Vaduz and Xamax, the two sides at the bottom of the table, so I think SLO can also get on the scoresheet for the eleventh time in their thirteen away games.

Schaffhausen are skirting around the fringes of relegation and were relieved to maintain the seven-point gap between themselves in eighth and Neuchatel Xamax in tenth after the 1-1 draw between the two at the Stade de la Maladiere last weekend. FCS were involved in the promotion playoff last season, but they are far from those dizzy heights in 22/23 and will welcome ninth-placed Vaduz to WeFox Arena aiming to further distance themselves from those lingering relegation fears.

Vaduz have had a rollercoaster first half of the season with zero wins in their first ten matches in the league, a first-ever European Group Stage appearance for a side from Liechtenstein, and then ending that winless domestic run in October with consecutive wins over Aarau (4-0) and Stade Lausanne-Ouchy (5-1). Despite their position just five points ahead of Xamax at the bottom, there will be confidence in the principality after they came from two behind against league leaders FC Wil in the final ten minutes to salvage a draw last Friday. There is improvement, only two defeats in ten attest to that, but they’d have liked to have earned more than just three wins along the way.

This should be a tight game. Schaffhausen have the poorest home record in the league but they should be able to score against a side that has only one away clean sheet in the Challenge League since November 2021. Vaduz should be able to take advantage of that poor home form though, they are in a better place and are scoring goals again. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a repeat of the 2-2 score line at this venue that we witnessed in October.

Lausanne have had a patchy away record to say the least in the Swiss Challenge League this season. Ludovic Magnin’s team had won only twice on the road and scored over four goals before their short trip to their old haunt of the Pontaise to play neighbours Stade Lausanne-Ouchy on Sunday afternoon. It is understandable that that journey would’ve been made with a degree of trepidation after dropping points to SLO in the previous two meetings and LS would’ve been fearing the worst as they fell behind early, but they bounced back to lead 3-1 and eventually got themselves over the line with a 4-2 final scoreline. It remains to be seen if this is the first step of improvement away from the Tulliere, but LS will be relieved to return to home comforts for the visit of Aarau.

A heavy 6-1 defeat to leaders FC Wil aside, Aarau entered the break in good form, unbeaten in four out of five and drawing with Lausanne away from home. After some terrible form in October, there was optimism around Brugglifeld again for a mid-table side that really should be challenging for the title. The return of top scorer Shkelqim Vladi in their return win against Thun was a welcome boost too. The 1-0 victory over the Bernese side lifts Aarau just three points behind Lausanne ahead of their second visit to the Tulliere in two months.

These are two teams that will be hoping for a better second half of the season if they are to realise their pre-season ambitions of challenging for promotion. Lausanne are very strong at home and have yet to lose, but Aarau have already taken points at LS this season and have picked up more points (12) than seven other teams in the division. I would instead focus on goals here. LS average over two goals per game and concede often with only two clean sheets. Aarau concede roughly two goals per game but also score close to 2 goals (1.78) per game. For those reasons, I would opt for Over 2.5 Goals here.