Basel and Sion will battle for three points in a Swiss Super League matchday 20 fixture on Saturday.
The hosts come into the game on the back of a 3-0 away victory over Luzern last weekend. All three goals came in the second half, with Fabian Frei starting and ending the scoring for the visitors.
Sion also secured maximum points with a 2-0 home win over Grasshoppers last time around. Jan Bamert's first-half strike was added to by Noah Loosli's second half own goal.
The victory saw them climb above Grasshoppers into sixth spot, having garnered 24 points from 19 matches. Basel still sit in second spot on 36 points, seven points behind table-toppers FC Zurich.
Basel vs Sion Head-to-Head
Basel have 49 wins from their last 75 matches against FC Sion. The visiting side were victorious on eight occasions while 18 matches ended in a stalemate.
Their most recent meeting came in October 2021 when Edon Zhegrova stepped off the bench to score the winning goal for Basel on the stroke of fulltime.
The home side won all five of their friendly games before their return to competitive action last weekend. Sion have won three of their last five league matches.
Basel form guide: W-D-D-D-W
Sion form guide: W-W-L-L-W
Basel vs Sion Team News
Basel
Sebastiano Esposito is suspended due to the red card he received against Grasshoppers while Andrea Padula and Raoul Petretta are unavailable due to injuries.
Injury: Liam Millar, Raoul Petretta
Suspension: Sebastiano Esposito
Sion
Musa Araz and Siyar Doldur are both doubts for the fixture.
Injuries: None
Suspension: None
Doubtful: Musa Araz, Siyar Doldur
Basel vs Sion Predicted XI
Basel Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Heinz Lindner (GK); Noah Katterbach, Andy Pelmard, Wouter Burger, Michael Lang; Fabian Frei, Taulant Xhaka; Valentin Stocker, Matias Palacios, Dan Ndoye; Darian Males
Sion Predicted XI (4-3-3): Kevin Fickentscher (GK); Marcos Cirpiano, Jan Bamert, Nathanael Saintini, Dimitri Cavare; Birama Ndoye, Anto Grgic, Baltazar; Kevin Bua, Filip Stojilkovic, Itaitinga
Basel vs Sion Prediction
Basel need the win to keep pace with FC Zurich at the summit of the table and they are likely to start the game on the front foot in search of all three points. The home side have the best defense in the league, while Sion have struggled to get going in attack.
In light of this, we are backing Basel to secure a comfortable victory in addition to a clean sheet.
Prediction: Basel 3-0 Sion