Swiss champions Young Boys will be bidding to bounce back from successive defeats at the start of the new season when they head to St Gallen on Sunday afternoon.
The visitors are currently bottom of the division, having lost their opening two fixtures, while St Gallen started their league campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Winterthur.
Match preview
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St Gallen made a disappointing start to their Swiss Super League campaign, losing 1-0 to Winterthur, but they will enter this match off the back of an impressive result.
Indeed, Espen were in Conference League action on Thursday, recording a 4-1 victory over Tobol in the first leg of their clash in the second qualifying round.
Enrico Maassen's side are therefore in an excellent position ahead of the second leg on August 1, but their immediate attention will be on putting their first league points of the season on the board.
St Gallen are two-time Swiss Super League champions, with their last success coming in 2000, but they finished down in fifth position in the table last season.
Espen held Young Boys to a 2-2 draw when the two teams last locked horns in April, and they have only lost one of their last three league matches against the reigning Swiss champions.
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Young Boys are 17-time Swiss champions and have won the title in the last two seasons, but they are currently bottom of the table, having lost their opening two matches of the campaign.
Indeed, the Bern-based out were beaten 2-1 at home by Sion in their season opener on July 21, before suffering a 3-1 loss to Servette on Wednesday, making it zero points from two fixtures.
Patrick Rahmen was only appointed as the team's new head coach over the summer, so it has been a tricky start for the 55-year-old, who will be desperate to deliver all three points in this contest.
Young Boys have qualified for the Champions League playoff round due to their Swiss Super League success last season, although their opponents for that fixture are yet to be confirmed.
It has been a relatively quiet transfer window for the club, although Ebrima Colley has made a permanent switch from Italian giants Atalanta BC following a loan spell.
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Team News
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St Gallen will again be without the services of two players due to long-term knee injuries, with Gregory Karlen and Betim Fazliji unavailable for selection.
Due to the manner of the performance against Tobol on Thursday, it is possible that head coach Maassen could name an unchanged side for this weekend's contest.
Chadrac Akolo was on the scoresheet last time out, and the 29-year-old is expected to keep his spot alongside Willem Geubbels in the final third of the field.
As for Young Boys, seven players are unavailable for selection, with Cheikh Niasse, Facinet Conte, Saidy Janko, Mohamed Camara, Aurele Amenda, Alexandre Jankewitz and Loris Benito on the sidelines.
Head coach Rahmen is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack from the loss to St Gallen, though, and he will be demanding an improvement from his players this weekend.
Cedric Itten is off the mark for the new season, and the 27-year-old is set for a start at centre-forward, while Silvere Ganvoula, who has also netted once his term, is also expected to keep his spot in the XI.
St Gallen possible starting lineup:
Zigi; Vallci, Okoroji, Stancic, Schmidt; Quintilla, Toma, Witzig, Stevanovic; Akolo, Geubbels
Young Boys possible starting lineup:
Von Ballmoos; Blum, Zoukrou, Lauper, Persson; Elia, Ugrunic, Chaiwa, Monteiro; Itten, Ganvoula
We say: St Gallen 1-1 Young Boys
Young Boys will be desperate to put a win on the board, but this has the potential to be a tricky affair against a talented St Gallen outfit. Young Boys will be the favourites, but we are backing a low-scoring draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
