AS St. Etienne

vs

FC Nantes

Preview

Saint-Etienne

• AS Saint-Etienne have taken to Ligue 2 life with aplomb however, sitting top of the table with 22 points from their 9 games so far and they arrive to the Stade Geoffroy Guichard as the odds-on favorites to beat Nantes on Saturday.
• Les Verts are unbeaten in 5 games across all competitions (3 wins, 1 draw) and have made home field advantage count in Ligue 2 with 4 wins, 0 draws and just 2 goals conceded on their home turf.
• Ian Cathro has been a good appointment for the club and his 4-3-3 is a possession-based structure that has plenty of fluidity in the middle third and works well with structured pressing in the defensive third.

Nantes

• Nantes sit in 14th place in the table with 8 points from 9 games, so they will be playing catch-up in Ligue 2 should they not improve their form.
• They come into this game off the back of a disappointing 0-0 home draw with Reims and a 2-3 defeat away to Dunkerque, leaving them with just 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats from their last 5.
• Nantes have conceded 1.75 goals per game on average in Ligue 2 away from home (W1, D1, L2).

Head-to-Head

• The last two meetings have been draws with the last meeting at this venue finishing 1-1.
• The odds represent this clash with Saint-Etienne 1.85, Nantes 3.85 and the draw 3.75.
• The difference in the two teams' styles of play should make this an intriguing chess match, with Saint-Etienne more reliant on their possession, high tempo and pressing, whilst Gregory Poirier has a more compact, pragmatic setup for Nantes, which relies on organisation, good transition play and defensive discipline.

Key Players

• Augustine Boakye has been the spark for Les Verts in this league, providing them with a clinical edge and a reliable goal-scoring ability with 4 goals in 7 Ligue 2 games, including 3 in their last 5.
• Nantes have Thomas Robinet, who has 3 goals in 7 Ligue 2 matches, one goal fewer than Saint-Etienne's top scorer.

Betting Insights

Prediction

• We think Les Verts will edge it, but the head-to-head suggests that Nantes can make them work for it.
• The last two meetings have been draws with the last meeting at this venue finishing 1-1, so expect a competitive match at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard.