Strasbourg vs Montpellier prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-09-16 13:00.
Strasbourg have blown hot and cold to begin this Ligue 1 campaign, having alternated between wins and losses with each round after their 2-0 loss to Nice last time out. That makes them the only top-flight French team yet to draw this term, and reverting back to a positive result would see them win three of their opening five top-flight games for the first time since the 2007/08 season.
Luckily they’re returning on Sunday to the Stade de la Meinau, where those two wins against Lyon and Toulouse have taken place this season, and where sharing the spoils is a rare occurrence with only one draw in their last 11 home encounters (W7, L3). That echoes the recent history they share with visitors Montpellier, where only one of the last 11 competitive H2Hs has ended all square.
Although they’ve lost on their last two visits to Strasbourg, Montpellier have generally had the better of those 11 most recent contests, winning on seven occasions. La Paillade could do with all three points once again, after a promising start to the season where they collected four points from their opening two games has taken a downward turn by losing their last two matches.
Perhaps manager Michel Der Zakarian will be the mastermind behind getting points on the board once again, having only lost three of his previous 16 meetings in the dugout against Strasbourg (W7, D6). He has his team’s competitive recent away record to back him up too since they’ve slumped to just three losses in their last ten on the road (W6, D1), and managed to score in every away outing until drawing a blank against Lille earlier this month.
Players to watch: Strasbourg’s Emanuel Emegha will have big shoes to fill following talisman Habib Diallo’s departure to Al-Shabab, but the Dutchman has encouragingly never lost a match when finding the net during his senior club career (W12, D1). Meanwhile, Montpellier’s Akor Adams has shown he does the majority of his best work in the second half, scoring 15 of his last 18 goals after the break.
Hot streak: There hasn’t been a scoreless first half in any of Montpellier’s last eight away matches.