St Etienne vs Nantes prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2025-01-18 14:00.
[p]After a valiant 2-1 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain, Saint-Étienne spent the weekend occupying the relegation play-off place in Ligue 1. They should be delighted to return home this weekend to Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, where they have collected 15 of their 16 points this season, including a win in new manager Eirik Horneland’s first match in charge (3-1 against Reims earlier this month). [/p]
[p]Saint-Étienne now have the chance to leapfrog fellow strugglers Nantes by claiming their first win in seven H2Hs (D4, L2), but to give themselves the best chance of achieving that objective, Les Verts will be looking to end a six-game run without a clean sheet across all competitions – a sequence that has also comprised five defeats, three of which came by a 2+ goal margin. [/p]
[p]Nantes are only above Saint-Étienne on goal difference, but they have started 2025 solidly with draws against high-flying pair Lille and Monaco, although they let a 2-0 lead slip against the latter (2-2). Those results have nonetheless eased the pressure on head coach Antoine Kombouaré, who has an incredibly even personal managerial record against Saint-Étienne (W9, D6, L9).[/p]
[p]Kombouaré ought to be disappointed that, ahead of this weekend, only the division’s bottom side Montpellier had won fewer games in Ligue 1 this season than Nantes, who look likely to finish in the bottom half of the French top-flight for the sixth time in seven campaigns. The only exception to that rule came in 2021/22 during the current boss’ first spell in charge of the Yellow House, so Kombouaré simply must find a way to end their seven-game spell without an away win in this competition (D3, L4). [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Zuriko Davitashvili got the consolation goal at PSG on his return to the Saint-Étienne starting XI, but it was the fifth time in the Georgian’s last nine scoring appearances that he didn’t emerge victorious (W4, D2, L3). Facing him could be Sorba Thomas, who got his first assists of the season for Nantes against Monaco, but the winger hasn’t registered a goal involvement in a victory since scoring and assisting for parent club Huddersfield Town against Sheffield Wednesday last February. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Only two of Nantes’ matches this season featured fewer than two total goals. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Alex Bowmer[/i][/p]