Yverdon Sport vs Zurich Prediction: Hosts can make it three unbeaten against Zurich

After finishing ninth on their return to the Swiss Super League last season, Yverdon Sport will be looking to build on the progress they made, and they kick off the new campaign on Saturday (17:00) by hosting Zurich, who finished fourth in 2023/24.

Ahead of this opening round contest at Stade Municipal in Yverdon-les-Bains, you can check out my Yverdon Sport vs Zurich prediction below, and read up on all the latest team news and match odds.

Football Odds

Team News

Dion Kacuri and Fode Sylla will be looking to make their competitive debuts for Yverdon on Saturday after playing their first minutes in their new colours in last weekend's 4-1 friendly defeat to FC Sion.

Other new recruits hoping to start include Lens loanee Fode Sylla and Benin international Mohamed Tijani.

Zurich made a statement signing last week with the arrival of 19-year-old Nigerian attacker Umeh Emmanuel from Bulgarian side Botev Plovdiv. Emmanuel is believed to be one of the club's most expensive signings of all time after scoring 10 times across league and cup competitions in Bulgaria last season.

Italian midfielder Antonio Marchesano was voted the club's best player in the 2023/24 campaign, and all eyes will be on him again this weekend.

Marchesano could be joined in the starting XI by 22-year-old Irishman Armstrong Oxo-Flex, who spent time with Celtic, West Ham United and Swansea City before departing for Switzerland last year.

Yverdon Sport vs Zurich Odds

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Despite winning this fixture twice last season - 3-0 on February 4 and 3-2 on March 9 - Yverdon Sport are underdogs to triumph on Saturday, with odds of 5/2 giving them an implied win probability of 28.6%.

Zurich can be backed at 9/10, or a 52.6% chance, while a draw is available at 5/2.

Both teams to score is 4/7 and over 2.5 goals is 8/13.

Double chance & both teams to score - Yverdon Sport or Draw & Yes @ 13/8

Yverdon ended the 2023/24 Super League season with 50 goals scored, at least two more than any other side in the bottom six, but it was their deficiencies at the back that kept them so low as only relegated Lausanne Ouchy (77) shipped more goals than their tally of 71.

Goals were in high supply in their home games as they scored 37 and conceded 27. It should be no surprise, then, that only Winterthur (79%), St. Gallen (74%) and Lausanne (68%) saw both teams score in a higher proportion of their home matches than Yverdon (63%), who finished joint-second in the overall BTTS table.

Zurich ranked lowly in that table but saw their final four matches of the campaign finish with at least a goal on either side.

Their away record was solid last season  - only Lugano (32), Young Boys (30) and Servette (27) picked up more points on their travels than Zurich's 26, but before the end-of-season split between Championship Group and Relegation Group, only Young Boys (41) and St. Gallen (36) had won more points at home than Yverdon, so Zurich won't expect to have it all their own way on Saturday.

Ultimately, I think Yverdon can get off to a positive start in front of their fans and at least avoid defeat for a third time this calendar year against Zurich, with an entertaining contest likely.

Both teams to score in first half - Yes @ 11/4

As it's the start of the season, there isn't much to go on in terms of recent form, so let's go slightly more ambitious with this second pick.

My thinking behind this selection is partly due to Yverdon's erratic nature last season, which saw plenty of goals fly in at either end. It took them just nine minutes to find the breakthrough in their last home game against Zurich, but they also conceded eight minutes later before scoring again in the 35th minute to head into the interval 2-1 up.

Meanwhile, four of Zurich's last six away matches saw both teams score in the first half, including their final two.

With neither side at peak fitness, perhaps we will see some early lapses in judgment on Saturday, which could lend itself to an exciting encounter with a goal on either side in the opening period.

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