St. Gallen vs Young Boys Prediction: Visitors to get up and running

Defending Swiss Super League champions Young Boys have not enjoyed their start to the new campaign, having lost their first two fixtures, planting them at the bottom of the table.

They head to St. Gallen on Sunday looking to get their first points on the board, with the hosts also looking for their first win, having lost their opening day fixture. Read on for my St. Gallen vs Young Boys prediction, including team news and match odds.

St. Gallen vs Young Boys Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main St. Gallen vs Young Boys page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

St. Gallen are 13/10 to win this match, which gives them a 43.5 chance of victory. Young Boys are valued at 8/5, giving them an implied probability of 38.5%. The draw can be backed at 5/2 (28.6%).

Both teams to score is available at 2/5 and over 2.5 goals is on offer at 4/9.

Football Odds

Team News

Gregory Karlen and Betim Fazjili are sidelined with long-term knee injuries for the hosts.

After an impressive 4-1 victory over Tobol in midweek for their Europa Conference League second qualifying round first leg, Enrico Maaßen may stick with the same starting XI against the reigning champions.

Chadrac Akolo was on the scoresheet in that win and he will be feeling confident heading into the weekend's clash.

Young Boys are missing Cheikh Niasse, Facinet Conte, Saidy Janko, Mohamed Ali Camara, Aurele Amenda, Alexandre Jankewitz and Loris Benito due to injury.

After losing two games in a row, boss Joel Magnin may be tempted to rotate the team as they are desperate to get off the mark. Forwards Cedric Itten and Silvere Ganvoula have opened their accounts for the season, and they will be looked to for inspiration on Sunday.

Young Boys to win @ 8/5

Young Boys have been disappointed in their first two matches so far, but it has not been for a lack of trying. They have registered 16 attempts at goal in both of their losses but what's been holding them back is composure. Hardly any of their attempts have been on target, and had they shown some cutting edge, they could have scored quite a few more goals and potentially be on six points already.

Heading into their third game, they need to start capitalising on their chances and I think they will as they search for their first victory of the campaign. Attackers Itten and Ganvoula have already scored this term which is a good start, now they will be tasked of utilising their goalscoring prowess to convert their goals into wins.

Another reason why I favour Young Boys to end the rut here is the fact that they have a really strong record against St Gallen. in recent history. The visitors have won five of the last seven meetings between the two sides, and I think that psychological factor can play a huge role in the outcome of Sunday's contest.

Of course there is concern for Young Boys defensively, having shipped five goals already, but going forward, they have put together some positive patterns and once they start converting more of the chances they create, they should easily return to familiar territory at the top end of the table.

Over 2.5 goals @ 4/9

There has been no shortage of goals in games featuring the reigning champions so far, and over 2.5 goals has landed in both of their two losses. We have also seen at least three goals in four of their last five Super League matches.

St. Gallen lost their opener 1-0 to Winterarthur but then there were a flurry of goals in their European fixture in midweek. With both teams looking to get their first points on the board in this game, the attackers on both sides will be fired up, hoping to be the difference-maker.

The defending champions need to show a spark on Sunday to remind the league who they are, and I think this could be the week in which they start to convert more of their chances. Then when you factor in the fact that their defence still looks shaky, there should be goals on offer for the hosts too. This is why I think over 2.5 goals is worth backing here.

Offers

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