Saint-Etienne vs Marseille Match Analysis and Prediction

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Saint-Etienne play host to Marseille at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Saturday, as they will be looking to move away from the relegation.

The hosts have climbed into the relegation playoff place courtesy of their upturn in form, while Marseille sit second in the Ligue 1 standings.

Having picked up 12 points from their opening 21 Ligue 1 matches, and on the back of a run of seven straight losses, Saint-Etienne seemed condemned to relegation, but they have given themselves a fighting chance with an impressive improvement.

They firstly stopped the setback with a 1-0 away win over Angers late in January, before making it back-to-back league victories for just the second time this season as they defeated Montpellier 3-1 at home.

Following back-to-back draws with Lille and Troyes heading to the international break, Les Verts have qiuckly gone from almost certain relegation to standing a good chance in the fight for survival.

Pascal Dupraz’s side find themselves just a single point adrift of automatic safety, which means a victory could see them jump out of the bottom three, and now in their way stand a Marseille side battling for a top-two finish in the French top flight.

Following a brief slip in form, in which they earned just a single point from encounters with Clermont, Troyes and Monaco, Marseille returned to winning ways with a 4-1 victory over Brest away from home.

That came in between the two legs of their Europa Conference League round of 16 contest with Basel, and after a pair of 2-1 victories, they secured their progression.

On the back of those three consecutive victories, Marseille faced Nice in their final game before the break, and they secured a crucial 2-1 to leapfrog Nice and move back into second place, now trailling Paris Saint-Germain in the French top flight.

Saint-Etienne vs Marseille head to head

The two teams have previously met on 44 occasions across all competitions, where Marseille have taken 22 victories while Saint-Etienne have won 11, and they have drawn in 11. Marseille have scored 62 goals and conceded 47. In their last five meetings, Marseille have won three while Saint-Etienne have won twice.

Saint-Etienne 0-2 Marseille 05/02/20

Marseille 0-2 Saint-Etienne 17/09/20

Saint-Etienne 1-0 Marseille 09/05/22

Saint-Etienne 1-2 Marseille 28/07/21

Marseille 3-1 Saint-Etienne 28/08/21

Saint-Etienne latest home form

Saint-Etienne have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their four most recent matches. Their last home form came on January 15 when they lost 2-1 to Lens in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored eight goals and conceded six.

Saint-Etienne 1-2 Lens 15/01/22

Saint-Etienne 3-1 Montpellier 05/02/22

Saint-Etienne 2-2 Strasbourg 20/02/22

Saint-Etienne 1-0 Metz 06/03/22

Saint-Etienne 1-1 Troyes 18/03/22

Saint-Etienne latest away form

Saint-Etienne have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having won just two four their six most recent matches. In their last away game, they picked up a goalless draw against Lille. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded five.

Angers 0-1 Saint-Etienne 26/01/22

Bergerac 1-0 Saint-Etienne 30/01/22

Clermont 1-2 Saint-Etienne 13/02/22

PSG 3-1 Saint-Etienne 26/02/22

Lille 0-0 Saint-Etienne 11/03/22

Marseille latest home form

Marseille have most recently been on a good run of form at home, as they have won each of their two most recent matches. They managed to defeat Basel 2-1 in the Europa Conference League on March 10. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and conceded six.

Marseille 3-1 Qarabag 17/02/22

Marseille 0-2 Clermont 20/02/22

Marseille 0-1 Monaco 06/03/22

Marseille 2-1 Basel 10/03/22

Marseille 2-1 Nice 20/03/22

Marseille latest away form

Marseille have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their five most recent matches. Their last away defeat 4-1 against Nice in the Coupe de France on February 9. In their last five matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded four.

Metz 1-2 Marseille 13/02/22

Qarabag 0-3 Marseille 24/02/22

Troyes 1-1 Marseille 27/02/22

Brest 1-4 Marseille 13/03/22

Basel 1-2 Marseille 17/03/22

Saint-Etienne news

Defenders Falaye Sacko, Saidou Sow and Yvann Macon are set to miss out alongside Yvan Neyou and Romain Hamouma.

Harold Moukoudi is likely to feature from the outset in a back three alongside Mickael Nade and Eliaquim Mangala, while Wahbi Khazri will continue to lead the line in the Saturday’s game.

Marseille news

Marseille will be without defender Leonardo Balerdi, while start striker Arkadiusz Milik may also miss out through injury.

In his absence, Cedric Bakambu could come into the centre-forward role with support from the likes of Dimitri Payet, Cengiz Under and Gerson, with Matteo Guendouzi operating in the engine room on Saturday.