Seeking to pick up their first win of the new Swiss Super League campaign, Grasshopper Zurich and Luzern go head to head at the Stadion Letzigrund on Saturday.
The hosts will head into the weekend looking to get one over Die Leuchten, having failed to win any of their previous four meetings since a 2-0 victory in May 2023.
Match preview
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Grasshopper Zurich were denied a dream start to the 2024-25 Swiss Super League season as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Lugano at the Cornaredo Stadium last Saturday.
Giotto Morandi converted his 25th-minute penalty to hand the visitors a first-half lead but Lugano upped the ante after the break as Kacper Przybylko levelled matter in the 61st minute before Uran Bislimi completed the comeback with a dramatic 92nd-minute strike.
This was in keeping with their unconvincing performance in pre-season, where the Hoppers failed to win three of their four warm-up games, losing twice and claiming one draw while conceding seven goals and scoring three in that time.
Grasshopper head into the new season off the back of another disappointing league campaign as they picked up 30 points from 33 matches in the regular season before finishing fifth in the relegation round, only above Stade Lausanne-Ouchy in the automatic relegation spot.
However, a resilient display in the playoff saw Marco Schallibaum's side salvage their season at the last chance saloon as they secured a 2-1 aggregate victory over Challenge League side Thun.
Having played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg on May 26, goals from Morandi and Asumah Abubakar in the return leg five days later saw Grasshopper secure a 2-1 victory at the Stockhorn Arena and win the tie 3-2 on aggregate.
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Like this weekend's hosts, Luzern suffered defeat in their opening game of the season as they were beaten 2-1 by Servette when the sides squared off last Sunday.
In an action-packed contest at the Swissporarena, Dereck Kutesa and Steve Rouiller either side of the half-time break to put Les Grenats in a commanding lead before Lars Villiger halved the deficit in the 92nd minute.
This followed a solid run of results in pre-season, where Mario Frick's men picked up two wins and two draws in their four friendly games while scoring five goals and keeping two clean sheets.
Luzern have now lost three Super League games on the bounce, having suffered defeats against Yverdon-Sport and Stade Lausanne-Ouchy in their final two games of the 2023-24 campaign.
Die Leuchten come into the new season looking to build on their performance from last term, when they finished first in the Super League relegation round with 49 points from 38 games.
Luzern will be backing themselves to bounce back this weekend as they take on an opposing side against whom they are unbeaten in 19 of their last 20 encounters, claiming 12 wins and seven draws since August 2008.
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Team News
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Grasshopper will take to the pitch without Australian midfielder Joshua Laws, who has been ruled out since picking up a knee injury in May's clash against Yverdon Sport.
He is joined on the club's injury table by 29-year-old defender Michael Kempter, who continues his long road to full fitness after suffering an ACL injury in August 2023.
Morandi was a standout performer for Schallibaum's men last season and the 25-year-old midfielder, who led the club in goal involvements last term (12), will be aiming to deliver the goods once again.
Meanwhile, Luzern remain without the duo of Ismajl Beka and Uruguayan forward Joaquin Ardaiz, who continue their spells on the sidelines through muscle and ACL injuries respectively.
French forward Sofyan Chader has been out of action since sustaining an injury against Stade Lausanne-Ouchy in March and the 24-year-old is also out of contention for Saturday's game.
Villiger turned in an eye-catching display off the bench against Servette and the 21-year-old, who made 34 league appearances last season (16 starts), could be rewarded with a starting role this weekend.
Grasshopper Zurich possible starting lineup:
Hammel; Abels, Tobers, Decarli, Paskotsi; Abrashi, Seko; Mabil, Morandi, Schuerpf; Muci
Luzern possible starting lineup:
Loretz; Ottiger, Jaquez, Loefgren, Meyer; Stankovic, Dorn, Ciganiks; Beloko, Villiger, Karweina
We say: Grasshopper Zurich 1-1 Luzern
Looking at recent meetings between Grasshopper and Luzern, we can expect a cagey affair at the Stadion Letzigrund as both sides look to avoid consecutive defeats. Both teams are evenly matched on paper and we predict that they will cancel out each other's efforts.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
