FC Lugano and FC Luzern will battle it out for a place in the Swiss Cup final when they lock horns at the Cornaredo Stadium on Thursday.
Having picked up four wins and one draw from the last five meetings between the sides, Lugano head into the game as slight favorites and will look to maintain their fine run over the visitors.
FC Lugano failed to find their feet in the Swiss Super League as they fell to a humbling 4-1 defeat at Lausanne-Sport on Monday.
They have now failed to win any of their last three league outings, picking up one point from the nine possible.
They will look to arrest this slump in form as they head to the Swiss Cup, where they are on course to reach the finals after seeing off Young Boys and FC Thun in their two outings thus far.
FC Luzern, meanwhile, turned in a performance of the highest quality as they came from behind twice to claim a 3-2 win over St. Gallen last time out.
They head into Thursday’s game unbeaten in four consecutive games, claiming two wins and two draws in that time.
Luzern have now turned their attention to the cup, where they have enjoyed a stellar run to the semi-finals, claiming three wins from three while scoring nine goals and conceding just once.
FC Lugano vs FC Luzern Head-To-Head
Luzern boast a slight upper hand in the history of this fixture, claiming 17 wins from the last 43 meetings between the sides. Lugano have picked up one fewer win in that time, while 10 games have ended all square.
FC Lugano Form Guide: L-L-D-W-W
FC Luzern Form Guide: W-D-D-W-L
FC Lugano vs FC Luzern Team News
FC Lugano
The hosts will be without Stefano Guidotti, who has been out of action since January through a knee problem.
Injured: Stefano Guidotti
Suspended: None
FC Luzern
Pascal Loretz, Pascal Schürpf and Thoma Monney are all recuperating from injuries and will sit out Thursday’s game.
Injured: Pascal Loretz, Pascal Schürpf, Thoma Monney
Suspended: None
FC Lugano vs FC Luzern Predicted XI
FC Lugano (3-4-3): Amir Saipi; Kreshnik Hajrizi, Olivier Custodio, Fabio Daprela; Numa Lavanchy, Mohamed Haj Mahmoud, Jonathan Sabbatini, Milton Valenzuela; Maren Haile-Selassie, Ignacio Aliseda, Zan Celar
FC Luzern (4-3-3): Marius Mueller; Mohamed Draeger, Marvin Schulz, Denis Simani, Martin Frydek; Ardon Jasari, Christian Gentner, Filip Ugrinic; Nikola Cumic, Marko Kvasina, Abubakar-Ankra
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FC Lugano vs FC Luzern Prediction
While Lugano have enjoyed a significantly stronger league campaign, they must guard against complacency against a Luzern side who are unbeaten in each of their last four outings.
We predict Lugano will get the job done and seal their place in the final with a victory.
Prediction: FC Lugano 2-0 FC Luzern