Gent vs St Etienne Predictions

It was the good work of Jean-Louis Gasset last season that got ASSE to the Europa League Group Stage but with him now gone they have really struggled to progress under Ghislain Printant. The manager was Gasset’s number two and many players signalled their desire in him taking over as head coach but it hasn’t been sunshine and rainbows so far for the team under him. Saint-Étienne have won just one of their opening five Ligue 1 games this season with their most recent result being their 2-2 draw with Toulouse at home on Sunday. They battled back from 2-0 down to steal a point but it definitely should have been a much easier result for Sainté.

Saint-Étienne currently sit 15th in the league and much of this has been down to their awful defence. They have the fourth highest xGA value this season with chances conceded amounting to 8.09 so far in the league. They have been alright for creating chances with an xG of 5.52 and five goals scored but this is rather below par for a Europa League side. 

Gent will be looking to take advantage of Saint-Étienne’s poor start to the season here. Sainté have only played five competitive matches so far while Gent have been up and running for much longer with a dozen games already under their belt for this season. The Buffalos have hit a rich vein of form recently with five wins and a draw in their last six matches seeing them qualify for the Europa League Group Stage and also sit a respectable 4th place in the Belgian First Division A.

Gent will be happy to host this opening match of the Group Stage as they have been so dominant at the Ghelamco Arena in recent matches. They have won each of their last eight competitive home matches with 27 goals scored along the way. They have also conceded six goals in this time though and this will be something that will intrigue the ASSE attackers. 

Gent have been in great scoring form recently with 30 goals scored in their last twelve games and with Sainté so poor at the back, we’re backing Gent to score over 1.5 goals here. The Belgians have been imperious at home and we can see them putting a few past this ASSE side who have conceded six goals in their last three matches. We’re also going to back the hosts to win 3-1 as there is quite the confidence issue at Saint-Étienne at the moment and we don’t see that all washing away in this difficult European fixture.