Saint Etienne vs Anderlecht Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Saint Etienne have had a very flat start to their season overall. They began with Europa League triumphs over AEK Athens and Beitar Jerusalem to make it to the group stages, but neither of these were overly exciting. They beat AEK Athens 1-0 on aggregate and Beitar Jerusalem 2-1 on aggregate.

Their Ligue 1 form has continued in this vein, with an opening day 3-2 defeat to Bordeaux being their most exciting match by far this season. Since then they have won three and drawn three of their six games.

In all competitions Saint Etienne have played out four goalless draws and two more 1-1 draws, and two of their victories have been by a single goal to nil. As previously mentioned, it’s been a very flat and dull start from them, although their 3-1 win at home to Lille on Sunday could potentially kick them into gear.

Anderlecht’s season has been more promising so far, but that’s to be expected in the weaker Belgium First Division A. They were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by Rostov, but after that they embarked on quite an impressive unbeaten run.

They won seven and drew three of their following ten matches, including a 6-0 aggregate win over Slavia Prague in the Europa League Playoffs and a 3-1 win over Qabala in their first group match. However, their unbeaten streak came to an end on Sunday as Westerio beat them 2-1 at home, leaving them 2nd in the table and four points adrift of the impressive Zulte-Waragem.

Saint Etienne do have the quality advantage in this clash, and their 3-1 win against Lille at the weekend will have given them a much needed boost of confidence. They have won three of their last five games at home as well, so I think odds of 11/10 for a Saint Etienne Win are good value for money. I’m also backing a 1-0 correct score prediction at 6/1.