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Unlikely competition for Zürich

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Monthly review: Defending champions FC Zürich are setting the pace in Switzerland but unheralded FC Sion are running them surprisingly close.

Defending champions FC Zürich are setting the pace in Switzerland but unheralded FC Sion are running them close with FC Basel 1893 in poor form.

Classy Zürich
Lucien Favre's Zürich have been in stirring form, losing just one game so far against FC St. Gallen. A victory in their derby game against Grasshopper-Club added to the confidence among the Zürich ranks. Having scored more and conceded fewer than all of their league rivals, their only disappointment to date has been failure to overcome FC Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round.

Sion marvels
Newly-promoted Sion have been running Zürich close since the start of the season and are two points adrift of the league leaders. Bosnia-Herzegovnian striker Sanel Kuljić, who also has an Austrian passport, has been in fine form scoring six of the side from the Valais canton's 15 goals. Kuljić also scored the winner in Sion's UEFA Cup second qualifying round tie against his old club, SV Ried.

Grasshoppers steel
Stalking the leading duo, third-placed Grasshoppers BSC Young Boys are level on points with St. Gallen and BSC Young Boys. A 2-1 defeat against Zürich was something of an aberration for Grasshoppers who have conceded just six goals in their five league games to date.

Basel struggling
Basel are in sixth place and are enduring a difficult season despite overcoming Liechtenstein's FC Vaduz on away goals to reach the first round of the UEFA Cup. Christian Gross's side have leaked an alarming number of goals and will be hoping that new forwards Cristiano and Delron Buckley can help stop the rot.

Basement dwellers
Below Basel, FC Thun, FC Luzern and FC Aarau have picked up just one win each all season, but that is one better than rock-bottom FC Schaffhausen. The tiny club have had their share of problems in recent seasons and it now seems they will face a third successive relegation battle this season.

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