Lorient vs St Etienne Betting Tips

Lorient finished fourth from bottom in Ligue 1 last season and the club, who are perennially in relegation danger, are hoping to avoid getting dragged into the scrap this season. They did a good job in their opening game earning a deserved (and unexpected) 0-0 draw with Lyon. However, they were on the other end of that type of result last weekend when they had to battle to earn a 1-1 with Bastia.

This Lorient side is built around a deep central midfield where Hesloub and Ndong play in front of the defence and help to stave off opposing attacks. They played a crucial role in stifling Lyon’s attack and while they maintain their current structure, no side will find it easy to break them down. From a betting perspective, don’t anticipate too many high-scoring games.

Unfortunately, that can work both ways. They battled hard against Bastia, controlled the flow of play, but just struggled to break them down and it was actually a little surprising when they finally tied it up. Will full-backs Le Goff and Gassama get a little more license to push forward as this team seeks a first win of the season? We’ll find out on Sunday.

Their opponents have yet to work it out in 2015-16. St Etienne’s 1-1 draw with Milsami in midweek Europa League action was a solid result for their tie, but it was a relatively unimpressive performance on the whole. They suffered an away defeat to Toulouse in the season opener and while they were unlucky to draw with Bordeaux last weekend, they also didn’t do enough to put the game away.

ASSE are a good team, but they are relying on some of their younger players to come through. The club started this season with ambitions to push for a Champions League season after a strong 2014-15 campaign. So far, they’ve lacked cutting edge. It’ll be interesting to see whether Roux makes a second straight start at centre forward, or whether manager Christophe Galtier plays around the personnel on his front line.

As much as we have been impressed with some of Lorient’s play early this season, we still think St Etienne are a good bet in this game. The double chance and win odds aren’t great, but the rewards of a near evens return on the win are worth the draw no bet option. Playing that bet protects you against the possibility that Lorient is able to stifle the game completely.

We think that the pace of this game should suit St Etienne, who will have time to feel their way into a rhythm. They’re a better team than their early season form has indicated and they’ll pick up their first win of the season on Monday.