Luzern are set to take on Stade Lausanne-Ouchy in the final match of the 2023-24 Swiss Super League at the swissporarena on Tuesday night.
The home side's safety is already confirmed, while the visitors are guaranteed to finish bottom of the table as they trail fifth-place Grasshopper Zurich by 11 points in the relegation round.
Match preview
This season has marked the first since the change in format in the Swiss Super League, taking up a style similar to the Scottish Premiership with 33 initial games taking place before the table splits into a championship and relegation round made up of six clubs each.
After finishing fourth in the division last term, Luzern would have been expecting to compete in the championship round after the initial 33 fixtures, but Mario Frick's side missed out by four points as they joined the relegation round.
Despite being in the bottom six, safety was never in doubt for the Lights as they held a 14-point lead over 11th-placed Grasshoppers going into the final five matches, with that lead being narrowed down to 12 points heading into the final day.
Luzern will be hoping to finish the season at the top of the relegation round as they prepare for the new campaign, but with FC Basel just a point behind them, they will need to take all three points to guarantee top spot.
As for the visitors, they earned promotion to the top flight after beating FC Sion in the promotion/relegation playoff, seeing them compete in the Swiss top flight for the first time in their history.
SLO have struggled to adapt to life in the top division, amassing just 26 points from their 37 games with six wins and eight draws under their belt.
Anthony Braizat, who guided the side into the Swiss Super League, was sacked in November with his side only managing two victories in the opening 13 league fixtures, being replaced by Ricardo Dionisio, who has overseen the remainder of the season.
Only four wins have followed in the 24 matches in his tenure, seeing SLO's relegation already confirmed going into the last day as they trail safety by 18 points.
SLO were the victors in the previous meeting between these two, securing a 2-1 victory at home, but Luzern were the dominant side across the three fixtures with an aggregate score of 6-3.
Team News
Luzern are carrying a number of injuries into the final day with up to seven players set to miss out.
Denis Simani, Diego Heller, Ismajl Beka, Kevin Spadanuda, Nicky Beloko and Sofyan Chader are all unavailable for the hosts due to injury problems.
Luca Jaquez was forced off in the 71st minute of Luzern's previous outing and is a doubt for this one.
The visitors will be without three of their own due to injury issues.
Dany da Silva, Linus Obexer and Sahmkou Camara are all set to miss out on the final day.
Luzern possible starting lineup:
Loretz; Ulrich, Ottiger, Lofgren, Frydek; Haas, Jashari, Dorn; Meyer; Villiger, Ademi
Stade Lausanne-Ouchy possible starting lineup:
Vachoux; Gassama, Kadima, Hajrulahu, Ouedraogo, Heule; Mahmoud, Bayard, Akichi, Gharbi; Ajdini
We say: Luzern 3-0 Stade Lausanne-Ouchy
The hosts come into this game as the clear favourites and with just four losses at home all season, we expect Luzern to win this one.
SLO have failed to score in five of their last seven matches, and we expect them to struggle in front of goal once again here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
