St Etienne vs Toulouse Predictions

Toulouse very much underachieved last season with previously successful coach Alain Casanova not bringing the desired league finish in his first year back in the Pink City. It looks as if the team are finally developing under the Frenchman though as they have started this campaign in great fashion. Their 4-0 defeat to Paris was disappointing but generally they have been pretty solid, with two wins and a draw in their other three matches. 

Toulouse may appear awful at the back when you see that they’ve conceded the second most xGA this season (8.52) but these numbers are rather inflated due to 4.71 of this coming in their defeat to PSG. They only conceded 0.27 xGA in their most recent match but that was against a very poor Amiens side and this has been a common trait of Toulouse so far. Apart from their match-up with PSG, they have played teams that will probably finish in and around the relegation zone this season, so it will be interesting to see how they cope again against a top six side. 

Saint-Étienne are still to really get going under Ghislain Printant this season. They began the campaign with an uninspiring win before drawing and then losing their two most recent games. Les Verts have been pretty average in creating chances but with just three goals scored so far, they will really need to buck up their ideas following the international break.

Saint-Étienne have only played one home match so far this campaign and it ended a 1-1 draw against newly promoted Brest. Les Verts created a lot of chances with an xG of 2.22 but didn’t put it to good use, only scoring once. 

Both sides have faced Brest this year, with both matches ending as 1-1 draws and we feel a similar pattern may form here. Saint-Étienne have always had a great record over Toulouse with four wins in their last five meetings but this side doesn’t look half as threatening as Jean-Louis Gasset’s men did last season. As a result we don’t see the hosts winning this one. Toulouse have been solid against poor opposition recently but we’re backing them to steal a point from this match. We’re predicting this one to finish 1-1.