Looking to begin the defence of their domestic crown on a positive note, Young Boys will welcome newly-promoted Sion to Stadion Wankdorf on the opening Sunday of the 2024-25 Swiss Super League.
YB were runaway winners of the top flight last term and will be aiming for similar success this time around, whereas the Valasians' immediate aim should be to avoid trouble at the wrong end of the table.
Match preview
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Finishing a sizeable 12 points ahead of second-placed Lugano in the 2023-24 Swiss Super League standings, it is fair to say that Young Boys cantered to the domestic title last season, with Sunday's hosts losing just seven of their 38 league contests on their way to the crown.
YB's dominance at the top of the game in Switzerland is now undoubtable considering that they have finished first in six of the last seven years after winning their first-ever top-flight title during the 2017-18 season, highlighting their remarkable rise to power in the Super League.
Stadion Wankdorf will be expecting nothing less than maximum points to commence the 2024-25 schedule this weekend, with Young Boys dropping only 10 points in front of their home supporters last season, collecting a mammoth total of 47 points from 19 Super League battles.
With stars from last term such as 12-goal attacker Joel Monteiro and top creator Lewin Blum sticking around, YB have been afforded the luxury of adding to an already settled squad, with the arrivals of Facinet Conte and Ebrima Colley from Bastia and Atalanta BC respectively raising a few eyebrows.
Following spells in the Swiss Challenger League, as well as jobs at Basel and Winterthur, Patrick Rahmen has been handed the honour of leading Young Boys for the 2024-25 term, and anything other than Super League success will likely lead to intense pressure on the 55-year-old.
After over a decade at the top level of Swiss football, Sion suffered a 10th-placed finish in the Super League during the 2022-23 term, sentencing them to at least a year of slogging it out in the Challenger League, although the Stade de Tourbillon responded remarkably to the setback.
At the first time of asking, the Valaisans earned promotion back to the first tier by winning the Challenger League title, ending up three points ahead of second-placed Thun, who will not be joining Sunday's visitors in the Pro League after losing the qualification playoff to Grasshopper Zurich in late May.
Although a trip to Stadion Wankdorf to face Young Boys represents a massive step-up in quality compared to last term, Sion will take a lot of confidence from their exceptional record on the road during 2023-24, when they won 12 and lost just one of their 18 league outings, conceding only eight goals in the process.
Joining the club from French outfit Pau just over 12 months ago, Didier Tholot rightly receives plenty of credit for the Valaisans' quick transformation from whipping boys to division leaders, with the 60-year-old losing just four of his 41 competitive matches in charge to date.
Sion have a number of attacking stars who are very familiar with the task at hand in the Super League, none more so than 34-year-old Dejan Sorgic, who fired in 16 Challenger League strikes last campaign after netting 28 top-flight goals over the previous three seasons.
Despite plying their trades in different divisions last season, the most recent clash between the two sides arrived in February courtesy of the Swiss Cup, with the then second-tier Sion upsetting the odds and securing their progression into the semi-finals with a 2-1 win over Raphael Wicky's Young Boys.
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Team News
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Young Boys remain without the services of centre-back Loris Benito, who suffered a cruciate ligament injury in February and is yet to return to first-team action.
As a result, new defender Tanguy Zoukrou could be in line for his competitive debut after securing a switch from Troyes over the off-season.
Back from a successful loan spell at Winterthur, Marvin Keller will be battling with David von Ballmoos for the status as first-choice goalkeeper this term.
After providing 18 goal contributions in the Challenger League last campaign, Ylyas Chouaref will be desperate to put in a statement performance on his return to the top flight for Sion.
Following such a solid season defensively in the second tier, the Valaisans are expected to stick with Joel Schmied and 38-year-old Reto Ziegler as their centre-back pairing.
Young Boys possible starting lineup:
Von Ballmoos; Blum, Camara, Zoukrou, Persson; Males, Lauper, Lakomy, Monteiro; Elia, Ganvoula
Sion possible starting lineup:
Fayulu; Lavanchy, Schmied, Ziegler, Diouf; Kabacalman, Kronig, Chipperfield, Chouaref, Berdayes; Sorgic
We say: Young Boys 2-1 Sion
Possessing the best home record in the Super League last term, Young Boys should be confident of commencing their 2024-25 schedule with a win at Stadion Wankdorf on Sunday.
That being said, Sion's momentum from a brilliant second-tier campaign could result in a close affair, however we believe that the hosts will narrowly come out on top.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
