Epinal vs St Etienne Predictions

• Since 2017, St. Etienne have twice failed to beat lower-level opposition in the Coupe de France.
• St. Etienne have not won this competition since 1977.

Hosts hope to strike twice

Fourth-division Epinal are on quite a journey, and after beating Ligue 1 Lille in the last round, they won’t be ready for it to come to a halt. Competing against St. Etienne won’t be easy, although considering they’ve had the positive experience of getting the better of a side considerably higher up the Ligue 1 table, the hosts will surely fancy themselves to compete.

The margin of their victory may have been slender, but that doesn’t mean Epinal were fortunate to beat Lille. In fact, they were the better team in terms of shots for, while they certainly weren’t bettered in terms of creativity. That win is the only higher-level scalp taken by Thursday’s hosts, who also got the better of Ligue 2’s Sochaux earlier in the competition, winning 2-0 at this venue.

Visitors must be wary of slip-up

St. Etienne come into this fixture as massive favourites and will likely be feeling very confident about reaching the semi-finals of a competition they’ve not won since 1977. They even failed to lift the trophy during the early eighties, which was something of a renaissance period for St. Etienne; back then, they were fortunate enough to have stars such as Johnny Rep, Patrick Battiston and Michel Platini donning the famous green.

It is a good omen that St. Etienne have had recent practice when it comes to beating lower-level opposition, as they defeated Paris FC prior to narrowly beating Monaco in the previous round, though their victory against second-tier opposition in the capital was not overly convincing. Overall, they dominated, but a less-than-secure back-line and a failure to guard against the counter meant they had to come from behind not once but twice.

Goals for both on the cards?

Based on their efforts against Lille, Epinal could quite easily get a result here; but backing them to do so just doesn’t appeal. For all St. Etienne only narrowly beat Paris FC, they dominated in a way that suggests Thursday’s hosts may struggle to come out on top. That doesn’t mean they cannot continue to make their presence felt.

In the betting, ‘Both Teams to Score’ appeals. Epinal have twice found the net against higher-level opponents at home this term, while the way in which they countered against Lille bodes well ahead of a match against a visiting side that struggled to guard against the break against lower-level opponents earlier in the tournament.

Similarly, the way in which St. Etienne have performed offensively points towards them hurting a defence that couldn’t keep Lille entirely quiet. Correct score punters can try a 2-1 win for St. Etienne.