Epinal vs St Etienne
13th February 20:00hrs
Football – France – French Cup
Pick St Etienne 1 goal margin win
Bookmaker Unibet
Odds: 12/5 odds taken 21:34 GMT, Thursday 6th February
Attention turns to the Coupe de France on Thursday night to see if fourth-tier side Epinal can come up with another shock win. In the last round, they surprised top-flight opponents Lille. They go up against Ligue 1 side next as St Etienne pay a visit to Tomblaine.
Table of Contents
Epinal’s epic cup run
The Epinal are from the fourth tier in France (Championnat National 2). They will have seen fellow fourth-tier side ASM Belfort bow out of the quarter-finals against top-flight opposition on Tuesday night. Rennes got the better of the underdogs.
Can Epinal avoid the same fate? Their big moment in this exciting campaign happened in the previous round where they took a 2-1 win over Ligue 1 side Lille. Just for context, Lille was in the Champions League group stage this season and are seventh in the top flight.
Their victory over Lille in which Jean-Phillipe Krasso was the hero of the night for Epinal with a brace, was Epinal’s fourth game in the tournament and all of their wins have so far, been by a one-goal margin.
Epinal are only mid-table in their section of Championnat National 2 with a W6 D5 L6 record on the board. They are also the lowest scorers sat inside the current top nine there. They have never before been higher than Ligue 2 in the French pyramid.
Can St Etienne get the business done?
So this is a banana skin of a tie for St Etienne who would probably be a lot happier if this were a home game. They are a team who are struggling for form at the moment. They are on a three-match losing streak currently.
St Etienne have also failed to score in their last two fixtures. They are sat in the bottom half of the Ligue 1 table, eight points clear of the drop zone with a W7 D4 L12 record on the board.
Don’t miss out on other Betting Tips & Predictions
Click here for more Betting Tips
St Etienne have won the Coupe de France six times before, but not since 1981. They were the surprise fourth-place finishers in the French top-flight last season as well. In the last round of the French Cup they did get a very good win, a 1-0 success on the road at Monaco.
All three of their completed games in this season’s campaign were all away from home. Their current away form reads W3 L4. All three of the wins in that sequence were from Coupe de France games.
Epinal vs St Etienne Betting Advice
So far St Etienne have handled themselves well enough out on the road to suggest that they can survive this night. It’s not as if they have been in red-hot form, however, so a low-scoring one-goal margin success coming their way does have some appeal.
Key Facts – Epinal vs St Etienne Betting Tip
- Epinal play in the fourth tier of the French pyramid
- Epinal beat Lille in the last round
- St Etienne won away at Monaco in the last round
Epinal had a moment to savour in coming from behind to beat Lille in the last round. Lille had a really bad off-night however and are more focused on a top-four finish in Ligue 1. St-Etienne are more likely to throw the kitchen sink at this one and there will be no complacency in their ranks after what happened to Lille.
The best betting odds for Epinal vs St Etienne
Epinal to win: 6/1 at Bet365
Draw: 7/2 at Bet365
St Etienne: 2/5 at Bet365
