FC Bastia-Borgo vs St Etienne Predictions

• Bastia-Borgo are winless in their last eight matches with twelve goals conceded along the way.
• The hosts have conceded the second most goals in the Championnat National 1 this year.
• Saint-Étienne have the division advantage and a great record in the first round of this competition but have conceded in each of their last seven games.

The visitors looking to start afresh

Saint-Étienne closed off 2019 with some awful form as they won just one of their final five games, the other four ending in defeat. Claude Puel’s first few honeymoon months in charge of the club are over and the frenchman will now need to get the team ready for a second half charge for Europa League football. They currently sit 14th but have a great opportunity to get a few goals here as they face a side much further down the footballing pyramid than them. 

Les Verts conceded eleven goals in their final five games of the decade with even teams like goal-shy Reims putting three past three Puel’s men; for reference at how poor a defeat this was, Reims scored 19% of their league goals this season in that single match. Saint-Étienne’s only recent victory came in the Coupe de la Ligue against Nîmes but apart from that there has been little for their fans to celebrate. That victory over Nîmes is their only away win in their last five matches so they will have to be extremely careful here as they travel to Corsica.

Third-tier minnows on a soggy run of form

Bastia-Borgo would have liked to go into this match against a massive team in slightly better form than they are currently in but they will have to make do either way. The third-tier minnows are currently on an extremely barren run of matches with no wins in their last eight league games. They have only had some wins over amateur clubs in the Coupe de France to celebrate recently but apart from that it has been a soggy patch for the club. 

They currently sit 13th in the league and are drawn for the second most goals conceded this season. This match will be played at SC Bastia’s Stade Armand-Cesari due to Borgo’s stadium being too small but generally their form on the island has been poor with three losses and a draw in their last four games. 

The better quality of player to prevail?

Despite Saint-Étienne’s form as of late, they should probably be able to get past this team in an even worse vein of form. The visitors have only failed to get past the first round of the cup in one of their last seven attempts and they should be ready for this one following the winter break which has allowed them to calm down following the turbulent end to 2019. Borgo have conceded twelve goals in their last eight games so we’re backing the away side to put three goals past the minnows here. However, the hosts have scored in nine of their last eleven games and with Sainté without a clean sheet in their last seven matches, we’re backing the hosts to get on the scoresheet in a 3-1 defeat.