St Etienne Vs Auxerre
St Etienne Vs Auxerre Sunday, 29 May 2022 – 18:00 (BST)
French Ligue 1 Play-Off
Pick: Both Teams to Score
Odds: 17/20
Bookmaker: Betfair
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 27 May 2022)
Preview: Nerves will be jangling among the home faithful inside the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Sunday. That is because their St Etienne team found victories elusive here in 2021/22. Perhaps of greater concern, however, will be their record at this ground against Auxerre, the latter incurring just two losses across eight previous visits.
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Table of Contents
St Etienne – Les Verts cannot snap winless sequence?
In Ligue 1 this season, St Etienne registered one solitary clean sheet from 19 outings at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. It came in a 1-0 win against 19th-placed Metz, one of only two teams who finished worse off in the final standings than Pascal Dupraz’s porous side, and unsurprisingly resulted in them posting mediocre figures of W4 D6 L9 when at home. So there remains plenty of work before celebrations can begin.
This despite a rare goal from Zaydou Youssouf handing them the initiative in Burgundy. The midfielder had put the 10-time French league champions ahead inside fifteen minutes of the first leg, leading by virtue of away goals. However, the 1-1 scoreline would extend the team’s barren spell to seven games (D3 L4), including back-to-back defeats as hosts, while it is now one win in their last 12 overall (W1 D5 L6).
Key Stat: St Etienne have scored in each of their past nine home matches, but recorded a clean sheet only once across these fixtures.
Auxerre – Ligue 2 outfit with all the momentum?
Les Diplomats were the aggressors last time out, seeing more of the ball (60%-40%) and shading the shot count (12-10 (5 on target to 3)). It helped, of course, that they were the team playing in front of a home crowd. This was still only good enough for a 1-1 draw that leaves them having to chase a goal in Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes if they are to stand any chance of securing promotion back to Ligue 1 after a decade away.
Encouragingly though, this is a team which does travel well. They’re also a team in exceptional form. Although they might have expected more from that opening leg, that result means they are now nine unbeaten (W6 D3). Moreover, away from home in the league it is no it is no loss in eleven, winning seven, since a 3-1 reverse in Dijon last November. Jean-Marc Furlan and his players won’t lack for belief then.
Key Stat: Auxerre would both score and concede in all of their six previous away league games (W4 D2), while they would fail to score on just two occasions across eight prior away head-to-heads versus St Etienne.
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St Etienne Vs Auxerre Betting Advice
The away goals rule has been scrapped in UEFA competition’s but not in France. Last Thursday’s 1-1 scoreline between the sides means it is advantage St Etienne, after the Ligue 1 side struck early but wilted late into proceedings in Burgundy. Auxerre must therefore find at least one goal at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard to maintain their push for promotion, and will be bullish about achieving their aim.
St Etienne Vs Auxerre – Key Facts:
- After Thursday’s 1-1 scoreline, there has now been six consecutive drawn encounters between the clubs. Meanwhile, have now gone ten meetings without losing inside 90 minutes.
- Both teams have scored in 11 of the last 12 league games involving St Etienne, as well as 8 of their last 9 when at home.
- Auxerre scored but also conceded in 11 of their past 13 league fixtures (including Thursday’s first-leg). This was also the case in all of their last six away from home, winning four.
St Etienne struggled for clean sheets in 2021/22, managing one in 19 Ligue 1 home games. They did score in each of the last nine said fixtures, though, and will be confident of reaching double figures against an Auxerre without a clean sheet in their past six away league games. The visitors last fired in a blank on the road in January, though, scoring at least once in eight successive away matches. Back BTTS again.
Best Betting Odds – St Etienne Vs Auxerre
St Etienne – 19/20
Draw – 21/10
Auxerre – 13/5
(Odds courtesy of Betfair)
