Ligue 1 | Gameweek 8

Oct 19, 2024 at 6pm UK

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard

St Etienne vs Lens

Match preview

It has been a whirlwind return to the top flight for St Etienne, who have done their best in recent weeks to prove the pundits wrong about their chances of survival.

After an 8-0 thrashing at Nice last month, many began to write them off as relegation candidates, but their response has been commendable.

A 2-0 defeat at Nantes a week later would have led many to believe that a repeat of that chastening night on the south coast was on the cards, but Olivier Dall'Oglio's side fought back to claim a 2-2 draw instead.

Just before the international break, St Etienne were given an excellent opportunity to prove themselves at this level when they visited Ligue 2 champions Auxerre, and Zuriko Davitashvili scored a hat-trick to help them to a 3-1 victory.

They go into the game on the back of back-to-back home wins in Ligue 1 and could make it three in a row this weekend for the first time in over five years.

Davitashvili's treble also doubled Les Verts' goal tally for the afternoon, as they moved away from being the league's worst attackers to six goals, all of which have come in their last four games.

Lens will be a tough outfit to beat, however, as they have proved incredibly difficult to break down under Will Still, and ASSE have lost their last two home games against the Blood and Gold, a run of three successive defeats that is unprecedented.

Avoiding defeat is certainly possible for the hosts, however, as Lens are on a remarkable run of five consecutive draws in Ligue 1, the longest such run since Reims drew six on the bounce over a decade ago.

However, the steady flow of points is doing Lens no harm, as they currently sit top of the European standings, having also won their opening two games of the season.

Qualifying for Europe will again be the aim this season, as the Lens faithful were thrilled by their return to the Champions League under Franck Haise last season, but were devastated by their Conference League qualifying defeat to Panathinaikos at the start of this campaign.

That remains their only defeat of the season in all competitions, as their strength at both ends of the pitch has proved frustrating for opponents.

No team has conceded fewer than their four goals so far, and they are also a threat in attack, especially away from home, as Lens have scored in each of their last 12 league games away from home, and if they can do the same again, they will have equalled their club record.

Recent Performance

Saint-Etienne Ligue 1 form:

LLWLDW

Lens Ligue 1 form:

WDDDDD

Lens form (all competitions):

LDDDDD

Injuries and suspensiosn

Saint-Etienne

23 Anthony Briançon

17 Pierre Cornud

27 Yvann Maçon

7 Thomas Monconduit

25 Ibrahima Wadji

Lens

16 Hervé Koffi

4 Kevin Danso

24 Jonathan Gradit

27 Sidi Bane

2 Ruben Aguilar

15 Hamzat Ojediran

23 Neil El Aynaoui

19 Jimmy Cabot

9 Martín Satriano

Possible starting lineups

Saint-Etienne possible starting lineup:

Larsonneur; Appiah, Batubinsika, Nade, Petrot; Moueffek, Ekwah, Amougou; Davitashvili, Sissoko, Old

Lens possible starting lineup:

Samba; Sarr, Khusanov, Medina; Frankowski, Thomassen, Diouf, Machado; Sotoca, Said, Nzola