Toulouse vs Clermont prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-09-02 11:00.
After their 2-0 defeat to Strasbourg last weekend, Toulouse have one final opportunity to notch a second league win of the campaign ahead of the impending international break. With European group stage football waiting in the wings for the Coupe de France holders, getting as many points on the board early will be crucial as they look to improve on last season’s bottom-half finish.
Toulouse boss Carles MartĂnez made a fair assessment that his side must “stop conceding the first goal” in the wake of their latest loss, although that was the first time they had fallen to defeat after doing so this season (W1, D1, L1). Perhaps the visit of rock bottom and pointless Clermont will be welcomed then, but given they were one of five sides to complete a winning league double over Toulouse last time around, this game may not be as straightforward as the table suggests.
Hopes were high around Clermont after the club achieved their highest-ever Ligue 1 finish of eighth last season, although that seems to have peaked when they took the lead after seven minutes against Monaco on the opening day. Since then, Pascal Gastien’s men have conceded seven times and scored just once in reply across their worst ever top-flight start to a campaign.
Indeed, this is only Clermont’s third season at the top in their relatively short club history (1984), so to turn from top-half finishers to potential relegation battlers probably isn’t the greatest surprise. This could be a good opportunity to get their season rolling though, as only five sides picked up more away points than Clermont’s 29 last season, and with Ligue 1 road wins against the likes of PSG and Lyon under their belts, they’re certainly capable of a shock.
Players to watch: Zakaria Aboukhlal is well on the way to replicating last season’s ten-goal haul in the league after helping Toulouse avoid defeat from behind with goals in two of their three league games this season. As for Clermont, Austrian Muhammed Cham had a hand in both of their league goals so far this season (G1, A1).
Hot stat: Clermont are unbeaten in 11 of their last 18 away league games as pre-match outsiders (W6, D5, L7).