In the final round of fixtures in the Swiss Super League playoffs Championship Group, Lugano will welcome Servette to the Cornaredo Stadium on Saturday.
Both on the back of defeats on Monday, the two teams are guaranteed second and third-placed finishes respectively with four points between them before meeting in the same fixture in the Swiss Cup final next Sunday.
Match preview
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Lugano return to action on Saturday aiming to end their Swiss Super League campaign on a high, having already guaranteed a second-placed finish and a resultant spot in Champions League qualifying next term.
After missing out on the top two to Saturday's visitors by a single point last year, finishing with a tally of 57, the Bianconeri have shown pleasing improvement this term, now sitting on 65 points with a game left to play, having finished the regular season with 18 victories alongside 10 defeats from 33 outings.
After then kicking off the championship group at home to St Gallen, Mattia Croci-Torti's side would regain second place with crucial back-to-back victories in mid-May, firstly prevailing away at retaining champions Young Boys with Ousmane Doumbia netting the only goal, before they hosted sixth-placed Winterthur last Thursday and dished out a 4-2 beating with Jonathan Sabbatini, Uran Bislimi, Renato Steffen and Zan Celar on the scoresheet.
That set up a trip to Zurich on Monday for the Bianconeri in the penultimate round of league fixtures, knowing a victory would guarantee second spot, but they were unable to make it three three-point hauls on the bounce, instead leaving empty-handed from a 2-1 defeat as Yanis Cimignani's goal game too late to force a turnaround after Lindrit Kamberi and Jonathan Okita had the hosts 2-0 up.
While they did not manage such a result, the visitors' own defeat this week meant Lugano have sealed second place behind Young Boys and will head into Champions League qualifying next season, and they will first set out to end the campaign on a high with a victory to move seven points clear of third place on Saturday before contesting with Servette once again for the Swiss Cup trophy next week.
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The visitors, meanwhile, travel to the Cornaredo Stadium in search of their own return to winning ways on the final day ahead of the cup final, despite failing to take the fight for the second Champions League qualifying spot in the Swiss top flight down to the wire.
In search of a second consecutive second-placed finish in the Super League, Servette finished the regular season in third spot, one point behind Lugano as a result of a dramatic dip in form in the final month, but they would return to the top two at the beginning of the playoff stage by beating Winterthur 2-1, with Enzo Crivelli and David Douline netting early goals.
Les Grenats were unable to defend their standing and failed to add another notch to their wins column in the following three attempts, though, initially being held to a draw away at St Gallen before visiting FC Zurich and falling four points behind Lugano with two games left to play as their hosts came from a goal down to win 2-1.
That saw Rene Weiler's side head into Monday's meeting with champions Young Boys needing a victory to keep their top-two hopes alive, but they were unable to do so, instead coming away empty-handed from a second straight loss as Mohamed Camara netted the only goal of the game 13 minutes from time in a 1-0 away win.
Remaining four points behind Saturday's opponents as a result while leading fourth-placed FC Zurich by the same margin, Servette will now focus on ending with a rebound victory before meeting the same opposition in search of a first piece of major Swiss silverware since 2001.
Team News
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Lugano may be unchanged from Monday's trip to FC Zurich at the weekend in their 4-3-3 shape, with Zan Celar bound to again lead their line having netted a team-high tally of 21 goals so far this season including 14 in 35 Super League outings.
Shkelqim Vladi will fight to return to the front three from the outset, but Croci-Torti is more likely to stick with Mattia Bottani and Renato Steffen either side of the front man, with the latter having contributed six goals and 13 assists in 31 top-flight games this campaign.
Lukas Mai and Albian Hajdari are mainstays in defence and will continue their partnership at the heart of a back four, while Uran Bislimi, Anto Grgic and Mahmoud Hadj should again line up in midfield despite competition from veteran Jonathan Sabbatini.
Servette will remain without forward Enzo Crivelli at the weekend, as the forward has missed their last two matches through injury and will not be deemed fit in time to feature.
With 11 goals, he only trails January departure Chris Bedia in their scoring charts this term, and Jeremy Guillemenot may come in to take attacking responsibility and lead the line from the outset after coming off the bench last time out, having notched up seven goals of his own so far this season.
Key centre-back Yoan Severin was an unused substitute in Monday's trip to Young Boys, after playing in the entirety of the previous seven outings, and he will look to regain his starting spot after Steve Rouiller and Dylan Bronn were preferred in that contest.
Lugano possible starting lineup:
Saipi; Espinoza, Mai, Hajdari, Valenzuela; Hadj, Grgic, Bislimi; Steffen, Celar, Bottani
Servette possible starting lineup:
Frick; Magnin, Rouiller, Severin, Mazikou; Douline, Ondoua; Bolla, Stevanovic, Cognat; Guillemenot
We say: Lugano 1-1 Servette
With an identical Swiss Cup final looming, we anticipate a tight and cagey encounter on Saturday and see a draw as the most likely outcome with both teams' league finishes cemented before they head to Bern next week.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
