St Etienne vs Lille Prediction & Betting Tips (13 September)

For its part, AS Saint-Etienne is making a return to Ligue 1 after two tumultuous seasons in Ligue 2. Last year, the Greens took 3rd place in Ligue 2, behind Auxerre and Angers, before triumphing against Rode into the play-offs and beat FC Metz in the play-offs, thus ensuring their promotion with the ambition of regaining their place in the elite. However, the start of the season is far from ideal for the Stéphanois, who have already suffered three losses. After a defeat against AS Monaco 1-0, they fell again against Le Havre 0-2. Their most notable defeat nevertheless remains the heavy defeat against Brest during the third day 4-0, which raises concerns. Last May, Lille compromised their chances by failing to win in their last home match against Nice 2-2, which relegated them to 4th place in the standings, thus offering 3rd place on the podium to Stade Brestois.

As a result, Losc had to go through two preliminary rounds to hope to qualify for the Champions League. After eliminating Fenerbahce in the 3rd round, the Northerners faced Slavia Prague in the play-offs. Winners in the first leg 2-0, they preserved their lead despite a 2-1 defeat in the Czech Republic. In the championship, Bruno Genesio's men started well with two convincing victories against Reims 0-2 and Angers 2-0, before losing to PSG 1-3 in a close match which augurs well for the future. . 

For this match, summer recruits Miladinovic (11 goals and assists last season in Serbia), Ben Old (Wellington Phoenix) and Cheikh Fall are out, while Ekwah (Sunderland) and Lucas Stassin (Westerlo), newly recruited, should join the group. In addition, new left winger Augustine Boakye (Wolfsberger) and striker Ibrahima Wadji have relapsed. Seriously injured against Brest, the starting right-back Maçon will be out in the coming weeks, like Monconduit, when Bouchouari and Briançon (3 important players last year) could be absent, not seeming to feature in Olivier Dall'Oglio's plans . Key player at the end of last season, Irvin Cardona (9 goals, 3 assists) left Saint-Étienne to join Espanyol Barcelona on loan from Augsburg. The departures also affected wingers Mbuku (4 goals) and Stéphane Diarra, or even Chambost (left for Columbus with 6 goals and 7 assists) for a Saint-Etienne team which cannot yet score in L1 . In return, the club recruited Maubleau (Grenoble) for the goalkeeper position, Davitashvili (Bordeaux) as a winger, Cornud (Maccabi Haifa) in the middle and the experienced defender Abdelhamid (Reims) also arrived. Saint-Étienne can also always count on Cafaro (4 goals, 8 assists) and Sissoko (top scorer with 12 goals) who have extended their time. For Lille, the prolonged absence of the excellent midfielder Bentaleb for cardiac reasons is confirmed, as is those of the long-term unavailable Umtiti, the piston Ismaïly, and the recent recruit Bakker.

Injured with their respective selections during the international break, Haraldsson (potential starter) and the promising Mukau who arrived this summer will also be out. The Kosovar Zhegrova, sidelined with his selection during the gathering for a nightclub outing, has already found the net against PSG and in the Champions League. This summer, Lille saw Lenny Yoro leave for Manchester United. The Northerners, however, have strengthened their squad with the arrival of young Mukau (FC Mechelen), full-backs Meunier (Trabzonspor) and Bakker (Atalanta), Algerian international defender Aissa Mandi (Villarreal), and promising Ethan Mbappé (PSG). Bayo, back from loan to Le Havre, is finding his place. More recently, young winger Matias Fernandez Pardo (La Gantoise) also joined the Mastiffs, when former Portuguese international André Gomes returned. LOSC managed to keep Canadian striker Jonathan David (19 goals last season, 1 goal in L1 this season and 2 in C1).