The new season of the
Swiss Super League starts with the match between
Grasshoppers and
Xamax on Saturday evening.
In the pre-season Grasshoppers made up leeway after an unsuccessful start to finally finish third. They would like to be as successful again, but there are doubts about that after the leaving of several top players. Six important players (Sommer, Feltscher, Lulic, Seferovic, Nassim Ben Khalifa, Zarate) have left the club and should get replaced by trainees and the offensive new player Steven Lang (former Aarau). In their last test match Grasshoppers got a 2:2 draw at VfB Stuttgart. Last season they had the best defence of the Super League and won 14 of 18 games at home.
Xamax had a very good start last season, but after they sold both top striker in the winter break, they slipped down to third last position. Though twelve player left the club for the new season and only five new players were engaged, the quality of the team should stay consistent. The strength of Xamax seems to be their defence, while even after the engagement of the Portuguese Fausto, the offence still looks poor. In their test matches Neuchatel played quite successful against moderate opponents. In the pre-season they had only three away wins.
Grasshopper Zurich - Xamax Neuchatel Date: 17 July, 2010 - 17:45 CET
Stadium: Letzigrund, Zurich
Grasshopper Zurich: Keeper: König
Defender: Voser - Vallori - Smiljanic
Midfielders: Pavlovic - Toko - Salatic - Abrashi
Forwards: Lang - Rennella - Zuber
Coach: Sforza
Injured: Cabanas, D´Angelo
Xamax Neuchatel:Keeper: Bédenik
Defender: Ismaeel - Besle - Page - Geiger
Midfielder: Wüthrich - Gelabert - Tréand - Varela - Nuzzolo
Forwards: Fausto
Coach: Aeby
Injured: -
On Saturday evening thunderstorms are forecasted for Zurich. The then expected heavy ground could be an advantage for the defending team Xamax.
Last meeting: 10. April 2010, Xamax Neuchatel - Grasshopper Zurich 0:1
Wins Grasshopper: 32
Wins Xamax: 14
Draws: 16
After their streak at the end of last season Grasshoppers are of course favourite at home. But the team has to absorb solid leavings and will need time to find together. Therefore one could risk a small stake on the better attuned outsider from Neuchatel.
The best odds on ‘double chance' Xamax you can find at
