The 17th round of fixtures is set to take place in France’s Ligue 1 this coming weekend and, with some games postponed, it gives certain teams an opportunity to try to cut the gap at the top of the table. Two teams trying to do just that are St-Etienne and Marseille, who meet Sunday afternoon with both teams hoping to go level on points with Montpellier, who sits third in the standings.
- St-Etienne has won its last three home games in Ligue 1.
- Marseille has lost three of its last six league encounters.
- Marseille has won 14 of the last 26 meetings between these teams.
St-Etienne vs Marseille Game Center
St-Etienne out to make it four in a row on home soil
St-Etienne has been one of the surprise packages of this Ligue 1 campaign and that is thanks in no small part to their home form. They have turned their own patch into something of a fortress and will be looking to make it four league wins in a row on their own turf this weekend.
Marseille, by way of comparison, is struggling to find some consistency, having won just two and lost three of its last six matches in Ligue 1. The side has won just half of its league games and is leaking goals at a rate of over 1.5 goals per game.
Despite that fact, and while the betting is close, it is in fact Marseille that comes into this match as the slight favorite to take all three points. You can back them to win on the road at +160, with St-Etienne only slightly higher at +175 to claim victory. A draw would appear to be the least likely outcome and is priced accordingly at +220.
St-Etienne to edge close encounter
There is just no ignoring St-Etienne’s excellent recent form in front of their own fans, however, and while this is likely to be a closely fought contest, we are expecting the home side to emerge triumphant. It is of course not easy in the slightest trying to predict the exact scoreline of any football match, but a narrow 2-1 win for St-Etienne comes in at +900 and may well be worth a punt given the recent form of both these teams.
Such a result would then allow you to back OVER 2.5 goals in the game, which is priced short at just -110, as well as both teams to score, which is even shorter at -143. Therefore, if you are looking to increase any winnings on this clash, you may want to think about combo betting, which offers multiple outcomes at higher odds.
For example, a combo bet of a St-Etienne win coupled with both teams to score is at the much higher price of +400, while a home victory and OVER 2.5 goals in the game comes in at +333. OVER 2.5 goals and both teams to score is at +120.
Could St-Etienne make a fast start?
Given the fact they have home advantage, and they have been so successful on home soil recently, we could well see St-Etienne racing out of the blocks here and into an early lead. You could therefore back OVER 0.5 goals in the first 10 minutes at +333 and, incidentally, both sides are at the same price of +850 to be ahead by the end of that time period.
The betting really is very close in this one. Both teams are at +375 to win to nil (without the other team scoring a goal), they are both at -175 to win either half and +275 to score in both halves – and while there is so little to separate them on paper, we believe St-Etienne’s home form will be the deciding factor in this contest.
In terms of goals, Slovenian forward Robert Beric could well be St-Etienne’s best hope of making a breakthrough. The 27-year-old is at +187 to net at any time throughout the 90 minutes, while you can back him at +550 to score either the first or the last goal of the game.
