Jason Collins
Dailysports's expert
Toulouse
Saint-Etienne
The program of the 15th round of the French Ligue 1 will be opened by Toulouse - Saint-Etienne. I offer my prediction for this event, will everything be so easy for the hosts, as the bookmakers think?
Toulouse
The current season Toulouse is doing well, occupying the tenth line in the championship, the gap from the top-6 is five points, the same gap from the danger zone. In the last round the team lost to a strong Monaco away - 0:2, the said defeat was the second in three games, although it is not worth talking about bad form, because earlier lost to PSG.
Judging by the results and the game, Toulouse is in its place, the European Cup is not pulled, but for survival should not fight. Before this confrontation, the club has only one personnel loss.
Saint-Etienne
After returning to the elite, St. Etienne is trying to gain a foothold here, and this is not an easy task. Now the club occupies the 16th line in the standings, and this is a zone of transition matches, the competition is dense, because from the passing 15th place the team is behind only by additional indicators.
In the last round Saint-Etienne lost at home to a strong Marseille with a score of 0:2, and the opponent dominated that match. This defeat was the third in four matches. The club has a lot of personnel losses at once nine players for various reasons are forced to miss this meeting.
Possible lineup
- Toulouse: Rest, McKenzie, Cresswell, Sidibe, Suazo, Sierro, Casseres, Dennum, Gboo, Aboukhlal, King.
- Saint-Etienne: Larsonner, Appiah, Batubinsika, Ekwa, Abdelhamid, Cornu, Petro, Bouchouari, Mouton, Davitashvili, Stassin.
Facts about the match
- Toulouse on their field plays with mixed success, 3 wins, two draws and two defeats.
- Saint-Etienne lost 6 out of 7 meetings in this season of Ligue 1, one more match ended in a draw.
- This is how the quotes for this meeting look: P1 - 1.48, X - 4.5, P2 - 7.1.
H2H
The rivals have a considerable history of face-to-face confrontations, but the last time they crossed five years ago. Toulouse can not beat Saint-Etienne in eight games in a row.
Prediction
Toulouse is quoted as a big favorite in this pair, the chances of the hosts to win are really higher, but I do not think that everything is so clear. Saint-Etienne can impose a struggle in such a match. I consider an acceptable bet on the success of the guests with +1.5 goals.
