Saint-Etienne vs Lille Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 French Ligue 1
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There appears to be a bit of a mis-match at the Geoffrey Guichard this weekend as newly-promoted and pointless Saint-Etienne welcome a strong Lille side down south as they look to recover from a defeat last time out.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Friday 13th September, 2024 - UK – 7:45pm / US ET – 2:45pm / US PT – 11:45am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TBC / US – beIN Sports
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Ligue 1 Pass / US – beIN Sports
SAINT-ETIENNE PREVIEW: STRUGGLING START
As one of the fallen giants of French football, it will have satisfied a lot of people to see Saint-Etienne return to the top-flight via the Ligue 1/Ligue 2 promotion/relegation playoff against Metz. However, it may not be a very long return to Ligue 1 football with the Greens looking like a very weak side after just three matches.
Just they and fellow newly-promoted side Angers have started with three successive defeats but Saint-Etienne sit rock-bottom on goal difference without having scored a single goal yet this season. They started with a 1-0 loss to Monaco before being beaten 2-0 at home by Le Havre and then being hammered by four goals to nil away at Stade Brest.
LILLE PREVIEW: STRONG START
It was an impressive season last season for Lille under then management of Paulo Fonseca. He departed for AC Milan over the summer, though, and he has been replaced by former Olympique Lyonnais and Stade Rennais manager Bruno Genesio, nicknamed ‘Pep Genesio’ due to the style of football he wants his teams to play.
Lille have started well by qualifying for the league phase of the UEFA Champions League with a 3-2 aggregate defeat of Slavia Prague in the playoffs. As well as winning that tie, Lille won their opening two games of the Ligue 1 season before they then suffered a 3-1 defeat to defending champions Paris Saint-Germain last weekend.
SAINT-ETIENNE TEAM NEWS: KIWI OLD OUT
New Zealand international midfielder Ben Old is unavailable for Saint-Etienne and that is an irritation for ASSE after proving to be pivotal for the last 12 months or so.
As well as that, the home team continue to have a couple of defensive absentees with both Anthony Briancon and Mahmoud Bentayg missing for this one.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Larsonneur; Macon, Batubinsika, Abdelhamid, Amougou, Fomba; Aiki, Davitashvili, Cafaro; Sissoko
UNAVAILABLE: Bentayg (Injured), Briancon (Injured), Old (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
LILLE TEAM NEWS: DEFENSIVE ISSUES
Summer signing Ngal’ayel Mukau is unavailable for Lille this weekend alongside fellow defenders Samuel Umtiti and Ismaily with Bruno Genesio’s side focused on attack.
Angel Gomes, who made his England debut in midweek, is expected to keep his place in the Lille midfield with the former Manchester United man the metronome in the metropole.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-2-1): Chevalier; Diakite, Mandi, Alexsandro; Santos, Andre, Gomes, Gudmundsson; Zhegrova, Cabella; Bayo
UNAVAILABLE: Mukai (Injured), Umtiti (Injured), Ismaily (Injured), Bentaleb (Injured), Haraldsson (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
SAINT-ETIENNE VS LILLE PREDICTION
Saint-Etienne have had a very poor start to the season. The overall game plan, even when gaining promotion, is to sit back and frustrate which they did manage to do in large parts in a 1-0 defeat against Monaco on the opening day. Lille will seek to dominate the ball and dictate the game and they will likely be allowed to do so with the northerners the firm favourites for this one but it may not be a high-scoring encounter.
SAINT-ETIENNE VS LILLE TIP: LILLE TO WIN & UNDER 3.5 GOALS
