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Switzerland and Bulgaria will trade tackles in a crunch 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Monday.
The home side do not have their destiny in their hands in their quest to secure automatic qualification for Qatar 2022. They currently sit level on points with Italy and need to better the European champions' result against Northern Ireland to progress.
Bulgaria have already been eliminated from the qualifiers and have nothing left to play for. However, they might have their sights set on usurping Northern Ireland into third spot in Group C.
Switzerland come into the game on the back of a pulsating 1-1 draw away to Italy on Friday. First-half goals from Silvan Widmer and Giovanni Di Lorenzo saw both sides cancel each other out at the break before Jorginho missed an injury-time penalty.
The draw left both sides level on 15 points ahead of the final matchday. Italy currently have a slight advantage by virtue of their superior goal difference (two goals more than their opponents) but this could be expunged if Switzerland secure a large victory on Monday.
Bulgaria also shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Ukraine in an international friendly fixture on Thursday.
Switzerland vs Bulgaria Head-to-Head
This will be the 12th meeting between the two sides and Switzerland have a superior record with five wins to their name. Four matches in the past have ended in draws while Bulgaria were victorious on two occasions.
Their first leg meeting ended in a 3-1 away victory for Switzerland in March. Breel Embolo, Haris Seferovic and Steven Zuber all scored first-half goals to guide the Alpine nation to victory.
Switzerland form guide: D-W-W-D-D
Bulgaria form guide: D-W-L-W-W
Switzerland vs Bulgaria Team News
Switzerland
Manuel Akanji picked up a second-half booking against Italy which has ruled him out of the game.
The hosts are without several key players for this international break, including captain Granit Xhaka and Steven Zuber.
Injuries: Nico Elvedi, Steven Zuber, Breel Embolo, Gregor Kobel, Granit Xhaka
Suspension: Manuel Akanji
Bulgaria
Petko Hristov and Georgi Yomov pulled out of Bulgaria's 24-man squad for November's international window.
Injuries: Petko Hristov, Georgi Yomov
Suspension: None
Switzerland vs Bulgaria Predicted XI
Switzerland Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Yann Sommer (GK); Ricardo Rodriguez, Fabian Schar, Ulisses Garcia, Silvan Widmer; Remo Freuler, Denis Zakaria; Renato Steffen, Xherdan Shaqiri, Ruben Vargas; Mario Gavranovic
Bulgaria Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Martin Lukov (GK); Andrea Hristov, Kristian Dimitrov, Alex Petkov, Vasil Bozhikov; Georgi Kostadinov, Ivaylo Chochev; Kiril Despodov, Todor Nedelev, Dimitar Iliev; Atanas Iliev
Switzerland vs Bulgaria Prediction
Switzerland are heavy favorites in the game and the high stakes involved will see the players raise the bar in order to get the required result. The hosts do not entirely have their destiny in their hands but a convincing victory could put them in fine stead to secure top spot, depending on what Italy do against Northern Ireland.
The Swiss will, however, have their work cut out against a resolute Bulgarian side that have the potential to frustrate their ambitions. The Swiss are likely to go all-out in attack, knowing that anything other than a large victory might not be enough to secure an automatic World Cup place.
Despite the absence of several key players for Switzerland, there is still a distinct gap in quality between the two sides. We are backing Murat Yakin's side to secure a comfortable victory.
Prediction: Switzerland 3-0 Bulgaria
