Football – France – Ligue 1
Sunday 26th April 2015 – Kickoff: 1400hrs
Saint Etienne are level on points with fourth placed Marseille ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, and the hosts will be wanting to build upon their well-earned points at Ligue 1 leaders Lyon last week in a 2-2 draw.
In fact, Saint Etienne are unbeaten in their last eight matches overall which includes wins over Lorient, Metz, Lille and Nantes, and they hold a decent home record at their Stade Geoffroy-Guichard ground with stats of 9-5-2 24/10.
On home turf, Saint Etienne have won their last three on the trot (all to nil), and they’ve actually kept a total of nine clean sheets at home so far this season. Forwards Gradel and Erdinc are the most likely anytime goalscorers for Saint Etienne, and the fact that they put two past league leaders Lyon away from home will spur them on here today.
Visitors Montpellier may be just two league positions below their hosts but find themselves five points adrift of them having put in some inconsistent performances in recent weeks. Defeats at Evian TG and Toulouse have been offset by wins over Bastia and Caen, but the aforementioned wins both came at home against lower half opposition.
Away from home, Montpellier hold an overall record of 4-6-6 14/15 and they’re without a win from their last three on their travels with defeats at Evian and Toulouse. Perhaps more importantly, they’ve failed to score in each of their last three matches, and have failed to score on nine occasions to date.
Saint Etienne appear to be the more solid of the two teams here, and I’ll back them to take the points here in what could be a 1-0 win for the hosts.
Pick: Saint Etienne straight win @ 1.83 Coral
