Predictions Ligue 1 - Saint-Etienne vs Lille | September 14, 2024

Ligue 1 - Saint-Etienne vs Lille
Match Time: 14-09-2024 01:45 Saturday (GMT+7)
Football Livescore | Match Prediction & Tips
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It has been far from an ideal beginning to the Ligue 1 campaign for Saint-Etienne, who have yet to show they belong with the teams at this level after two seasons away from top-flight football.

After three matchdays, Les Verts have yet to find the back of the net, something which had never happened to this club in Ligue 1 before this season.

This is the second time in club history that they have begun a top-flight campaign with three successive defeats, with the first time being in 2009-10, narrowly avoiding relegation by finishing 17th on that occasion.

Another defeat on Friday would mark the first time the former 10-time Ligue 1 champions begin this competition with four consecutive losses.

Olivier Dall'Oglio's men ended the previous Ligue 2 campaign on a seven-match unbeaten run at home, but dating back to their last stint in Ligue 1 (2021-22), this club have lost three straight encounters at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in this competition.

In two of their previous three meetings with Lille, Saint-Etienne have kept them off the scoresheet, but they have not beaten Les Dogues in a top-flight fixture since a thumping victory on the final matchday of the 2017-18 campaign (5-0).

After weeks of smooth sailing at the beginning of the season, Lille have cooled off in Europe and Ligue 1 since late August.

Bruno Genesio was unbeaten in his first five matches in charge across all competitions since the beginning of August, but his side enter this match having lost their previous two competitive fixtures.

Their three goals conceded versus PSG are the only ones they have given up domestically this season and as many as they had allowed in their four previous top-flight encounters combined, dating back to the 2023-24 campaign.

At the same time, only three points currently separate them from the league-leaders PSG, while they are just a single point behind Marseille and Nantes for an automatic place in the Champions League group stage next season.

Losing a Ligue 1 contest has been rare for this side, suffering just three defeats since March 2023, and losing consecutive matches in this competition is even rarer, something they have not done since matchday 35 and 36 in 2021-22.

Les Nordistes have points in seven consecutive Ligue 1 affairs against Saint-Etienne, though their last victory at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard occurred in March 2019 (1-0).

Prediction: Saint-Etienne 0-2 Lille