Auxerre Vs St Etienne Betting Tip: Draw – 26 May 2022

Auxurre vs St Etienne

Thursday, 26 May 2022 – 18:00 (BST)
French Ligue 1 Play-Off
Pick: Draw
Odds: 2/1
Bookmaker: Betfair
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 23 May 2022)

Preview: After failing to make certain of another season at the top level, St Etienne must console themselves with the prospect of a two-legged play-off deciding their Ligue 1 fate. Pascal Dupraz and his team head to Stade de l’Abbe-Deschamps to tackle an Auxerre side which finished the regular season in outstanding shape.

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Auxurre – Ready to end nine-years out of the Ligue 1 wilderness?

Once a mainstay within the French top division. Since their demotion at the end of 2011/12, though, Auxerre had largely struggled to acclimatise to their new surroundings in Ligue 2. The club from Burgundy could finish no higher than sixth for nine straight seasons, even coming close to relegation in 2017/18, before missing out on automatic promotion by a single point this time around to come home in third.

Les Diplomates finished the regular season in fine form, winning six of their final seven encounters. A 1-1 draw in Caen, conceding an 89th minute equaliser, ultimately costing them a top-two placement. Sochaux awaited in the play-off semi-final, and although they needed penalties to progress, their strong form towards the end of the campaign, going unbeaten in nine (W6 D3), provides them with plenty of impetus.

Key Stat: Auxerre won six of their final seven regular season matches as hosts – all via one-goal margins – with their only blip a 2-1 loss against Ligue 2 table-toppers Toulouse.

 

 

St Etienne – Stark improvement needed to preserve top-flight status?

Super sub Romain Hamouma came to Les Verts rescue in the final round of the 2021/22 Ligue 1 season, scoring a vital leveller away to Nantes which earned the ten-time French league title winners one last shot at redemption. They are now two games from preserving their top-flight status. But, for a side which has struggled to win matches all season, and, in particular, on the road, have they merely delayed the inevitable?

Across 38 league outings this term, St Etienne would win just seven. Pascal Dupraz’s charges may have saved themselves at the death but this was in spite of a six-game winless run to end a miserable campaign. Moreover, they would produce only three away victories all season (D5 L11). The most recent being February’s 2-1 scoreline at Clermont, a result which preceded a run of seven without an away win (D3 L4).

Key Stat: St Etienne would see out another testing Ligue 1 campaign by scoring in all but one of their final ten fixtures. They would also score two or more in three of their last five away matches, although none of these resulted in victory (D1 L2).

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Auxerre Vs St Etienne Betting Advice

For Auxerre, it is 180 minutes – plus the possibility of extra-time and penalties – from the prospect of playing Ligue 1 football again for the first time in ten years. For St. Etienne, one final opportunity to repair the damage of another error-strewn campaign. All the momentum, however, would appear to belong to the hosts in this first-leg. But will the experience and nous of the Ligue 1 side prove decisive?

 

 

Auxerre approach this game unbeaten in nine whilst having won six of their last seven here at Stade de l’Abbe-Deschamps. Conversely, St Etienne ended 2021/22 winless in six and without a win on the road in seven. So there is a fair amount of discrepancy between the respective forms. Nevertheless, I expect a close contest. All but one of Auxerre’s 11 previous matches were settled by a single goal or ended in a draw.

Best Betting Odds – Auxerre Vs St Etienne

Auxerre – 7/5
Draw – 2/1
St Etienne – 9/5

(Odds courtesy of Betfair)