Nimes V St. Etienne
Sunday 29th September 2019 – 16:00 Kick-Off
French Ligue 1
Pick: Nimes DrawNoBet
Odds: 4/6
Bookmaker: MoPlay
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13/2 | 12/5 | 4/7 |
* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 27th September 2019 at 09:00)
Preview: Both arrive with midweek defeats hanging over them, though Nimes boast the healthier prospects and will begin the weekend in the comfort of mid-table. That is in contrast to relegation zone occupants St. Etienne, who have made a troubling start to the Ligue 1 season. The Stade des Cortieres, home of Nimes, is the venue for a contest that can be watched live on BT Sports.
French Football Betting – 22Bet
Nimes Preview – Les Crocodiles to earn third straight home triumph?
Beaten for the first time in over a month, Nimes will be in determined mood this weekend as they attempt to atone for a 1-0 defeat away to Montpellier during the week. As the scoreline might suggest, there was very little separating the two sides, and that was accurately reflected in the respective xG from that game (MON 0.52 – 0.81 NIM). A draw would have been a fairer outcome.
Les Crocodiles, therefore, can take heart from producing a performance stronger than the hosts during that aforementioned loss, especially as Montpellier have been in decent form at home. It was also a first defeat in five for Nimes (W2 D2 L1), so it is far from panic stations, with the result only dropping them to 12th in the Ligue 1 standings (W2 D2 L3, GF7 GA8). Just one of their games in this spell featured both teams among the goals, though, which may deter would-be goal backers here.
Being back at their Stade des Costieres has to be viewed as a positive as well, with the team clearly responding to their home support of late – they have won their previous two league fixtures as the home side, defeating both Brest (3-0) and Toulouse (1-0) whilst keeping a clean sheet. Meanwhile Nice are the only team to have successfully taken any points from them in said fixtures this season, in a 2-1 reverse on matchday two (record at home in 2019/20 Ligue 1: W2 L1, GF5 GA2).
St. Etienne Preview – Les Verts to land first win since opening matchday?
Ghislain Printant is becoming increasingly underfire as manager at Saint-Etienne following a dreadful start to the new season which has seen no sign of improving anytime soon. Defeat to FC Metz in midweek, losing 1-0 at home no less, made it two straight defeats in Ligue 1 and no win at all since beating newly-promoted Dijon 2-1 on the opening weekend. The club want Printant gone but he is refusing to resign.
Perhaps of more concern, however, is Les Verts deserving to be where they are in the league at present (19th – W1 D2 L4, GF6 GA13), with their performances thus far ranking them as the second poorest side in the entire division according to Infogol’s Expected Goals. Therefore a change at the managerial helm is urgently needed, with both results and the standard of football evidently not improving under the current regime.
Unfortunately, it could be set to get a whole lot worse. That is because St. Etienne are out on the road again, where they have been hopeless of late. Their latest away outing ended in a resounding 4-1 loss at Angers; a game they would lead in only to implode in the second half, conceding four unanswered goals. Furthermore, that was their third consecutive away defeat, having lost to Marseille (1-0) and Lille (3-0) beforehand. Their overall record on the road does make for extremely grim reading: W1 L3, GF3 GA9.
Nimes V St. Etienne Key Facts:
- Nimes fell to 12th (W2 D2 L3) in the Ligue 1 table after suffering a first defeat in five last time out.
- St. Etienne languish in the Ligue 1 relegation places (W1 D2 L4) after a second successive defeat in their latest game.
- On the four previous instances Nimes have hosted this fixture in Ligue 1, they would not lose (W1 D3).
Betting Summary
Two teams in completely different head spaces. Both arrive with recent defeats on their minds but it is Nimes who have been competing better in their matches, losing their first game in five last time out (W2 D2 L1) when losing 1-0 in Montpellier. Back at home, where their form has been very strong of late following wins against Brest and Toulouse, Bernard Blaquart will be the more confident manager regarding securing a positive outcome.
These are precarious times for the manager in the opposite dugout, though, with Ghislain Printant under immense pressure after a run of no win in six in Ligue 1 (D2 L4). St. Etienne have suffered losses in each of their most recent two fixtures and arrive second from bottom in the standings. Victory would likely lift them out of the relegation zone but losing efforts in each of the previous three away encounters suggests that is a long shot amid the current toxic climate at the club.
When combining their results so far, these teams have managed only three victories between them from fourteen encounters. However, their respective home and away form is perhaps more telling, with Nimes winning their last two on home soil and St. Etienne defeated in each of their previous three away from home, conceding eight goals in the process. Nimes could be worth chancing.
