Preview: Lugano vs Thun - prediction, team news, lineups

Lugano will begin their Swiss Super League campaign on Sunday, when they welcome Thun to Stadio di Cornaredo.

The home team ended 2024-25 in fourth place with 54 points, 19 behind first-placed Basel, while newly-promoted Thun won the Swiss second tier after finishing the season with 71 points, 11 more than second-placed Aarau.

Match preview

Lugano’s league placement was two positions lower than in 2023-24, and they also finished with 11 fewer points.

Boss Mattia Croci-Torti’s side only kept six clean sheets in the past league season, the joint second fewest of the 12 teams in the top flight.

While the club’s new league season will begin on the weekend, they already commenced their Europa League qualification campaign on Wednesday, drawing 0-0 with CFR Cluj in the first leg of their second round tie.

Lugano failed to win any of their final four league fixtures of 2024-25 – losing twice – and they were also beaten in two and drew one of their prior four.

Bianconeri are also winless in their past five competitive matches at home, with the team suffering two defeats in that period.

Opponents Thun’s promotion means they will be playing in the Super League for the first time since 2019-20.

Head coach Mauro Lustrinelli’s team were the second tier’s leading goalscorers (70), as well as the league’s best defensive side (39).

The two clubs have not faced each other in a competitive game since 2022, but the visitors have only come out on top once in their past five clashes, losing two and drawing two.

Though Thun won just one of their last four league outings – succumbing to defeat twice – they had already secured promotion following a streak of five consecutive victories.

It should be noted that Lustrinelli’s side failed to win five of their final eight away matches, with the away team beaten twice in those fixtures.

Lugano form (all competitions):

Team News

Lugano do not have any injuries to contend with, meaning Lustrinelli should still be able to call upon forwards Renato Steffen, Georgios Koutsias and Ezgjan Alioski.

Uran Bislimi, Anto Grgic and Daniel Dos Santos Correia were selected in midfield last time out, and they may start on Sunday.

Goalkeeper Amir Saipi will hope that centre-backs Antonios Papadopoulos and Lars Lukas Mai limit the number of shots he faces.

Thun’s only absentee is midfielder Mattias Kait, who is set to miss out on action for a few more weeks, so perhaps Leonardo Bertone will be partnered in a double pivot with Vasilije Janjicic.

Christopher Ibayi and Elmin Rastoder could play up front, while central defenders Jan Bamert and Genis Montolio may start in a back four.

Lugano possible starting lineup:

Saipi; Zanotti, Papadopoulos, Mai, Wafi; Bislimi, Grgic, Correia; Steffen, Koutsias, Alioski

Thun possible starting lineup:

Steffen; Fehr, Bamert, Montolio, Heule; Reichmuth, Bertone, Kait, Meichtry; Ibayi, Rastoder

We say: Lugano 2-0 Thun

Though Lugano have at times struggled at home, they were defensively resilient last term and proved to be strong at the back against CFR Cluj.

Given that Thun were promoted from the second tier, it could take them some time to adjust to playing against higher-quality opponents, so it would not be surprising if they failed to take any points on Sunday.

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