Servette (home)
- Servette Geneve FC finished eighth and 21 points ahead of FC Winterthur in the Swiss Super League regular season after picking up 40 points from 33 games, while Winterthur’s 19 points were not enough to keep them out of the Relegation Group.
- The hosts have been the superior side since the season began and will only make Winterthur’s relegation worries worse on Sunday unless the visitors produce a defensive masterclass.
- Jocelyn Gourvennec’s side play possession-based soccer in a 4-2-3-1 formation, building through the double-pivot before allowing their wide players and half-spaces to overload opponents’ right and left-hand sides.
- Miroslav Stevanović is Servette’s best player and biggest goal threat, the wide forward scoring and creating chances with regularity from the left-hand side and through the middle.
Winterthur (away)
- Patrick Rahmen’s tactics make Winterthur very compact and solid defensively, and there is usually enough quality in the first team to make good on their transitions.
- Rahmen’s teams always set up to block up and concede possession before breaking quickly on the counter-attack, where Michael Frey’s experience and guile make him a big threat in the box.
- Alexandre Jankewitz does a great job of screening the back four and starting their counter-attacks, but Rahmen’s side are in the relegation group for a reason and look unlikely to do enough to avoid the drop.
Head-to-Head
- Since 2006, Servette have won 19 and lost 11 of 46 competitive meetings with Winterthur (D-16), scoring 139 goals to Winterthur’s 76.
- Servette’s form heading into this game is superior to that of Winterthur, with three wins, a draw and a defeat in the last five games (W3, D1, L1).
Key Players
- Miroslav Stevanović is Servette’s best player and biggest goal threat, the wide forward scoring and creating chances with regularity from the left-hand side and through the middle.
- Florian Ayé and Jérémy Guillemenot add further firepower to a side that has become one of the most dangerous in the Relegation Group since Gourvennec’s appointment.
- Michael Frey’s experience and guile make him a big threat in the box.
- Alexandre Jankewitz does a great job of screening the back four and starting their counter-attacks.
Prediction
With a win this weekend, Servette would all but guarantee their own safety in the group.
