Zurich vs Winterthur Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

FC Zurich’s poor end to the season last year saw them slip down the ranks towards the end of the campaign, and it eventually resulted in them coming last in the Switzerland Super League and being relegated to the second tier.

They lost five of their last seven Super League matches, and despite picking up four points from their last two matches they couldn’t escape from the relegation position. They eventually ended one point adrift of Lugano in 9th. They did manage to add a shine to an otherwise terrible season by winning the Swiss Cup though, resulting in their qualification to the Europa League group stages.

Despite their qualification to the Europa League, last season can’t be seen as anything other than an abject failure. They only won the Swiss Super League back in 2009, and now they find themselves competing in the 2nd tier of Swiss football. They will be expecting a speedy return to the top flight though.

Winterthur finished in an expected mid-table position in the Switzerland Challenge League last season, but some good periods of form offered some hope that a challenge for promotion could be on the cards soon.

They eventually finished in 6th position with 43 points from their 33 games, 22 points adrift of winners Lausanne Sport but only 11 points off Neuchatel Xamax in 2nd.

Winterthur would have finished higher had it not been for a poor run towards the end of the campaign, where they won just one of their final five matches and lost three times.

I’m expecting Zurich to get the win on Monday, but Winterthur aren’t a bad side and they could cause Zurich some problems if they underestimate them. Winterthur found the net in 12 of their 17 away games in the Challenge League last season, and the Zurich defence won’t be used to keeping a clean sheet after their torrid time last season. My prediction is for both teams to score at 8/11, but I’m going for a 2-1 Zurich win at 15/2 for my correct score prediction.