Looking to quickly put behind their first blemish of the season, Sion will host FC Winterthur at Stade Tourbillon in the fourth round of the 2024-25 Swiss Super League.
The home side have won two of their three matches so far, while the visitors have recorded one win, one draw, and one defeat.
Match preview
© Reuters
Since returning to the Swiss top flight at the end of last season, Sion made a solid start to the 2024-25 campaign, winning their opening two matches.
A 2-1 victory at Young Boys was followed by a comprehensive 4-0 thrashing of Lausanne-Sport, but Didier Tholot's side were unable to maintain their momentum, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Luzern at Swissporarena last Saturday.
This setback saw the hosts slip to fifth in the Swiss Super League table, but they remain in the Championship round with six points from a possible nine.
Tholot's men are three points adrift of the summit and will be eager to bounce back with a win against Winterthur, a side they have failed to beat in their last four encounters.
Sion have played just one home game so far, a resounding victory over Lausanne-Sport, and will be aiming to maintain their perfect home record on Saturday.
![Winterthur manager Ognjen Zaric - 20/07/2024 [on July 26, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/30/ognjen-zaric.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Winterthur manager Ognjen Zaric - 20/07/2024 [on July 26, 2024]")
© Imago
After opening the season with a win over St. Gallen, Winterthur have struggled to find consistency, suffering a defeat and drawing their subsequent two matches.
Rot-Weiss were beaten 4-2 by FC Zurich on matchday two before playing out a goalless draw with Yverdon Sport at home last time out, leaving them with four points and in seventh place.
Ognjen Zaric will be hoping his side can replicate their impressive fifth-place finish in the regular season of 2023-24, and avoiding a third consecutive game without a win is crucial to keep pace with the top half.
Having guided the team to four victories in four pre-season fixtures before winning their opening league match 1-0, Zaric will be looking for his side to rediscover that form and start winning league games again.
Facing an opponent they have dominated in recent years, with three wins and a draw from their last four meetings, Winterthur will have a good opportunity to claim their first away points of the season.
Team News
© Imago
Sion will head into this match with only one injury concern as Reto Ziegler is struggling with a knee injury that could keep him out.
Numa Lavanchy, Theo Berdates, Yiyas Chouaref, Ali Kabacalman, Cristian Souza and Dejan Dokic have all found the net for Tholot's men, and will be hoping to add more.
The visitors will remain without Roman Buess for this one, as he is currently out with a head injury since January.
Alexandre Jankewitz, Adrian Durrer, Nishan Burkart, Yannick Schmid and Elias Maluvunu are all also sidelined with different injuries.
Sion possible starting lineup:
Fayulu; Lavanchy, Schmeid, Diouf, Hefti; Berdayes, Kabacalman, Baltazar, Bouchlarhem; Chouaref, Sorgic
FC Winterthur possible starting lineup:
Kuster; Sidler, Lekaj, Luthi, Diaby; Stillhart, Zuffi; Chiappetta, Di Giusto, Fofana; Gomis
We say: Sion 1-1 FC Winterthur
Sion have made a better start to this season than Winterthur, but the away side have dominated this fixture in recent years, and we expect that they could be buoyed by this to pick up something from this match.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
