Toulouse vs St Etienne Betting Tips

Unsurprisingly, significant changes were made to this Toulouse side after what was frankly a desperately poor effort in 2014/15. They survived relegation by just one place and five points last season, conceding 64 goals, the second worst record in Ligue 1.

The last time Toulouse came close to relegation, when they finished 17th in 2007/08, they followed that up by finishing fourth. Of course, this is a very different squad from the one that represented Toulouse in the 2005-2009 period, but they do have a crop of promising youth, some players who under-performed last year and a couple of new additions. A fourth place finish might be unlikely, but a season safe from relegation isn’t too much for this fan base to ask for.

New goalkeeper Goicoeachea will play a critical role, while Ben Yedder headlines a group of attacking options that should score. In the Ligue 1 mid-table battle, the centre backs always play a critical role – Spajic and Kana-Biyik look set to start in that role on Sunday.

Most importantly, for the first time since 2008, Toulouse will have a new manager in Dominique Arribage. It isn’t clear what impact on style of play that this will have, but Arribage’s first order of business will be get to this team playing in a way that improves upon last season’s defensive record.

St Etienne were something of a surprise package last season. They were still in loose Champions League place contention for most of the season, before eventually finishing just two points behind third place AS Monaco. They’ve now had two straight top five finishes and the club is now eyeing bigger targets. They still don’t get the same respect as the league’s self-proclaimed “big four” of PSG, Lyon, Monaco and Marseille.

It’s just difficult to see a team with St Etienne’s talent level competing through another long Ligue 1 season. They succeeded in the 2014/15 campaign thanks to a fantastic defensive record, which saw them concede just 30 goals in 38 games, the second best performance in the division.

An away game at Toulouse is never an easy early season fixture. It’s an interesting match-up between two sides that were so contrasting in 2014/15. However, while we still expect St Etienne to have another good season, we’ll give Toulouse a good chance to get something out of this game.