FC Zurich welcome newly-promoted Yverdon Sport to the Letzigrund Stadium for their Swiss Super League opener on Sunday.
Zurich endured a woeful campaign last season, slumping to an eighth-place finish just 12 months after being crowned champions of Switzerland.
Match preview
One of the worst title defences in modern Swiss football history saw Zurich be fortunate to avoid relegation, given that the league expanded to 12 teams this season.
Had it been a regular season, Zurich would have been in serious trouble of finishing in the relegation playoff place, but the league's expansion means no teams were relegated automatically last season.
Finishing 32 points worse off than the season prior meant Zurich ended the campaign third from bottom.
A flurry of good results towards the end of the season helped move the side away from Sion who finished bottom and were ultimately relegated in the playoff.
Manager Bo Henriksen will hope that run of 11 points from six games can be carried over into the new campaign, and there were some extraordinary results along the way.
After recording a bizarre 3-0 win away at eight-man Basel, Zurich then went to champions-elect Young Boys and drew 1-1 in a smash-and-grab encounter.
Here though, they will face a jubilant Yverdon side who were recently crowned second division champions.
Despite staggering over the finish line with just three wins from their final seven games, Yverdon clinched the title, finishing five points clear of Lausanne in second.
This will be just a fifth-ever top-flight campaign for the club, and their first since the 2005-06 season.
Yverdon have only avoided relegation once in those five seasons at this level, back in the mid-1990s, so the odds are stacked against them given their lack of recent experience in the Super League.
Their pre-season has been rather underwhelming too, with seven friendlies producing defeats to Young Boys, Sion and Thun, as well as a thrashing at the hands of Annecy.
They will face Young Boys again in their first home game of the season next weekend too, in what promises to be a daunting prospect against the current champions.
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Team News
Zurich are expected to be without Antonio Marchesano and Ivan Santini ahead of their season opener.
New signing Fabio Daprela could make his debut for the club after arriving from Lugano this summer.
Daprela played in the recent friendly against Greuther Furth and may take the place of Becir Omeragic, who has left for Montpellier.
They will need to find a replacement for veteran midfielder Blerim Dzemaili too, after the former Swiss international announced his retirement at the end of last season.
Yverdon may be without their new signing Boris Cespedes, after the Bolivian returned back from international duty with a muscle injury.
Cespedes is one of seven new arrivals at the club, as Dominic Corness has joined on loan from Liverpool, along with Italian journeyman Dario Del Fabro, who recently left Cittadella.
Canadian Sebastian Breza has also been signed on loan and will look to challenge Kevin Martin for the number one spot in goal.
FC Zurich possible starting lineup:
Brecher; Kamberi, Katic, Aliti; Boranijasevic, Matthew, Rohner, Krasniqi, Daprela; Aiyegun, Okita
Yverdon Sport possible starting lineup:
Martin; Sauthier, Malula, Del Fabro, Le Pogam; Corness, Silva, Fargues; Maurin, Kevin, Beyer
We say: FC Zurich 1-1 Yverdon Sport
Zurich were very underwhelming last season, and despite a late-season charge which saw them pick up a healthy amount of points, they have not strengthened to a huge extent.
Yverdon are something of an unknown quantity, with many new faces and some notable outgoings meaning their side is much changed from the one which won promotion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Andrew Delaney
