St Etienne vs Mainz Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

St Etienne will be out to secure their qualification for the last 32 of the Europa League when they welcome Bundesliga side Mainz to Stade Geoffroy Guichard on Thursday evening.

Christophe Galtier’s men are unbeaten in the group stage having accrued 8 points from their four outings so far and are joint top, alongside Belgian outfit Anderlecht – three points ahead of their forthcoming German opponents.

It means that a win on Thursday guarantees Le Verts a spot in the knockout phase of the competition and that is something the hosts will be keen to achieve – especially after a disappointing 0-1 home defeat to Nice in Ligue 1 at the weekend that leaves them 9^th in the French top flight.

And providing Galtier’s side can recover quickly, they may just have a little too much for Mainz, who have struggled for consistency on all fronts since holding St Etienne to a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture.

Martin Schmidt’s side started the campaign positively but have fallen away in recent weeks and sit 8^th in Bundesliga after recent defeats to the likes of Schalke and RB Leipzig.

And their last 32 qualification hopes are seemingly dangling by a thread after a crushing 6-1 loss to Anderlecht last time out.

A 4-2 victory at the weekend will have done much to restore some confidence amongst Schmidt’s squad. However, they’re unlikely to have the same success in front of goal at Stade Geoffroy Guichard considering St Etienne have conceded just three in the group stage and 11 times in 13 Ligue 1 outings so far this term.

And whilst the Frenchmen are far from prolific themselves, they usually find a way to grind out results, as proved by their record to date in this season’s competition.

It’s just impossible here to get away from Mainz’ 6-1 drubbing in Belgium at the start of the month and considering the Germans need to win on Thursday night to keep qualification hopes alive, the game and Mainz’ defence is likely to be stretched once more.

We think the hosts represent good value to bank all three points here at 11/8 and at 17/2, 2-1 should give backers a run for their money in the correct score market.