St Etienne vs Toulouse Prediction & Tips
After being promoted from Ligue 2 via the playoffs last season, seventeenth-placed Saint-Étienne go into the final matchday needing to win at home to Toulouse to have any real hope of avoiding immediate relegation to the second division. A 2-0 away win over Reims last weekend gave Eirik Horneland’s side a chance of staying up if they can overtake sixteenth-placed Le Havre, which would mean a return to the playoffs.
Les Verts will not have an easy time of it after just one win in their last eight home games (E3, P4), plus the fact that they won just one of their last seven top-flight closing games (E3, P3). The fact that they have not kept a clean sheet in back-to-back matches all season in Ligue 1 raises questions about their defensive ability, especially in the opening 15 minutes, when they have conceded a total of 13 goals, the most in the league.
Toulouse have had no such problems in that period, coming into this game having conceded just two goals all season in the first 15 minutes of play, a figure matched only by champions PSG. Carles Martinez Novell’s side also arrive in the midst of an unbeaten run of three games (G1, E2), representing a vast improvement after losing the previous five.
