FC Winterthur are set to play host to Yverdon Sport at the Stadion Schutzenwiese on Sunday for the third matchday of the 2024-25 Swiss Super League campaign.
The hosts are sixth in the table with one win and one loss from two matches, while the visitors are still searching for their first points of the season.
Match preview
Winterthur have enjoyed a phenomenal few years recently, being promoted from the Challenge League as champions in 2021-22, most notably securing their place in the top flight for the first time since 1982.
They narrowly escaped relegation in 2022-23, finishing just one point above 10th-placed FC Sion to retain their place in the league, and followed that with a fantastic fifth-place finish in the regular season of 2023-24.
The Red and White hit an awful run of form towards the end of the last campaign, losing all of their last seven matches across all competitions, leaving them to finish at the bottom of the championship round.
Former manager Patrick Rahmen also left Winterthur at the end of the term, joining reigning champions Young Boys, resulting in Ognjen Zaric being appointed as manager, his first senior management role since 2020.
Tasked with repeating, and potentially bettering, last season's incredible achievements, Zaric guided the side to four wins in his four pre-season fixtures before winning their opening league match 1-0, a rather fortunate result considering they had just eight shots to St Gallen's 22.
Winterthur were defeated 4-2 by FC Zurich in their last outing in another performance that saw their opponents dominate the proceedings, and Zaric will want a significantly better performance in this one.
Their upcoming match against Yverdon Sport might be the ideal chance for a stronger showing, as the visitors have yet to secure a point, losing both of their first two games.
Yverdon Sport, who were promoted into the top flight as champions in 2022-23, meaning they would feature in the top division for the first time since 2005-06, successfully extended their stay in the Swiss Super League with a third-placed finish in the relegation round last year.
They are expected to fight for their survival once again this campaign, and their start has been less than ideal, with Alessandro Mangiarratti's men having suffered two defeats from two matches.
While they were comfortably beaten by Zurich on the opening day, taking four shots to their opponents' 20, they produced a much better showing against Servette, taking more shots and holding greater possession than their opponents.
Mangiarratti will be desperate for his side to replicate that level of performance in this game and finally secure their first points of the campaign.
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Team News
The hosts will be without Roman Buess and Remo Arnold for this one, with the latter serving a suspension after being sent off for an accumulation of yellow cards in their last outing.
Matteo Di Giusto has scored all three goals that the hosts have recorded this season, and the midfielder will be looking to continue his goalscoring exploits in this one.
The visitors will be without a number of players due to injury concerns, including Adniellyson Silva and Varol Tasar, who are recovering from cruciate ligament injuries.
Johan Kury, Magnus Grodem and Ricardo Azevedo are all also out with injuries, while they will also remain without Mohamed Tijani after the defender was sent off in their opening match.
Mauro Rodrigues was taken off with an injury concern in the 83rd minute of their loss to Servette, but Mangiarratti will be hopeful that the forward is fit for this one.
FC Winterthur possible starting lineup:
Kuster; Sidler, Lekaj, Schmid, Diaby; Stillhart, Zuffi; Rohner, Di Giusto, Fofana; Turkes
Yverdon Sport possible starting lineup:
Bernardoni; Sauthier, Marques, Kamenovic; Loucif, Kacuri, Cespedes, Le Pogam; Komano, Mahious, Rodrigues
We say: FC Winterthur 1-1 Yverdon Sport
The hosts have been dominated in each of their opening two fixtures, while the visitors put out a respectable performance against last season's third-placed side but will be low on confidence after back-to-back defeats, suggesting this one could end all square.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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