The Swiss Super League relegation battle will come to a dramatic climax on Thursday evening when St Gallen travel to Stadion Letzigrund to face Grasshopper Zurich.
While the visitors have already ensured their survival, the hosts are tied on points with bottom-ranked Yverdon Sport and trail FC Winterthur by a single point in the race for safety.
Match preview
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Grasshopper enter the final day of the season with their survival hanging in the balance, needing to match Yverdon-Sport’s result to avoid automatic relegation and better Winterthur’s result to escape the risk of demotion altogether.
Seven wins, 12 draws and 14 defeats in the regular season left Grasshopper in 10th heading into the post-split season, though only above 11th-placed Yverdon Sport on goal difference and three points above bottom-placed Winterthur.
However, a disappointing run of three defeats and one win in four post-split fixtures thus far has hampered their chance of survival, leaving the threat of relegation looming large on the final day.
Despite their poor form and lacklustre home record this term – with only 20 points from 18 home fixtures – Grasshopper have won three, lost two and drawn one of their past six home fixtures, including a 5-0 win in their latest outing.
Grasshopper have struggled against St Gallen in recent times, though, as Thursday’s visitors have avoided defeat in all of their last nine encounters, including three successive wins heading into this one.
While Grasshopper battle for their potential survival, St Gallen have little remaining to play for on the final day of the Swiss Super League season.
The visitors heartbreakingly missed out on a fourth straight top-half finish, ending the regular campaign tied on points with sixth-placed Lausanne but placing seventh due to an inferior goal difference.
One win, two draws and one defeat in their four post-split fixtures has allowed for Zurich to overtake them, currently ahead of St Gallen by one point, and Enrico Maassen will be aiming to reclaim seventh with a final-day victory.
While St Gallen have dominated this fixture in recent times, Espen have managed only one win from their last seven trips to Stadion Letzigrund, though that was a 2-1 triumph earlier this campaign.
Team News
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Grasshopper will be without the services of Bryan Lasme and Tsiy-William Ndenge due to ongoing injury issues, while Hassane Imourane is also ruled out after receiving a red card in their last match.
Nestory Irankunda scored his first goal since joining the club on loan from Bayern Munich in their latest home fixture, and the forward could come back into the starting 11 for this one.
As for St Gallen, Betim Fazliji, Christian Witzig, Gregory Karlen, Lukas Gortler and Musah Nuhu are all injured, while Lukas Daschner is suspended.
Bastien Toma could partner Mihailo Stevanovic in midfield as a result of that suspension, with Corsin Konietzke likely to start in a more advanced role.
Grasshopper Zurich possible starting lineup:
Hammel; Abels, Decarli, Seko, Persson; Schmitz, Abrashi, Morandi, Kittel; Muci, Irankunda
St Gallen possible starting lineup:
Zigi; May, Stanic, Vallci; Vandermersch, Stevanovic, Toma, Faber; Konietzke; Kambimbi, Geubbels
We say: Grasshopper Zurich 1-1 St Gallen
Grasshopper will be desperate for the victory to give themselves the best chance of survival, but the visitors have dominated this fixture in recent years, leading us to expect a close encounter.
However, St Gallen have struggled in their trips to Grasshopper’s home ground and we believe that will continue with the points being shared on Thursday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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