Our prediction for this Ligue 1 match:
St Etienne
Match Time & Date:
05/02/2022
17:00
Prediction: 2-1
Montpellier
St Etienne will look to build on a hard-fought 1-0 win over Angers when they take on Montpellier in the Ligue 1 round 23. Les Verts regained a much-needed confidence before the international break, but they need to keep on making progress if they are to avoid relegation to the Ligue 2. Mahdi Camara serves a one-game ban, while Wahbi Khazri is a major doubt as he has recently returned from international duty.
Miguel Trauco, who represented Peru in the World Cup qualifiers, is unlikely to feature in Saturday’s clash. La Paillade, on the other hand, aim to build on a 3-2 win over Monaco. St. Etienne, though, want this win more than Montpellier, which is probably the main reason why we will put our money on the relegation-threatened side. To make things even worse for the visiting team, both Teji Savanier and Junior Sambia are banned for the match.
Highlighted Player (Ryad Boudebouz):
Despite being born in Colmar, France on February 19, 1990 Ryad Boudebouz represents Algeria on the international stage. The Montpellier midfielder played for both France U17 and France U19 teams in the past, but he made his senior debut with Algeria on May 28, 2010 in a friendly against Republic of Ireland.
Speaking of his club career, Boudebouz played for Colmar and Sochaux at youth level and he continued playing for Sochaux first team. After scoring 24 goals in 164 appearances in the league for the club, he moved to Bastia in 2013 and he played 66 games for les Bleus.
Ryad Boudebouz played for the Corsican side from 2013 to 2015 and he signed a four-year deal with Montpellier and you should know that he netted 11 goals in 33 appearances for la Paillade in the 2016/2017 Ligue 1 campaign. His main position is attacking midfield, but he is capable of playing at both left and right winger as well.
Highlighted Team (Montpellier):
Over the years Montpellier have established themselves as a mid-table side in French Ligue 1. Montpellier are considered one of the youngest clubs in France as they were founded in 1974, but it has to be noted that a number of high-profile footballers played for the club in the past. French football legend Laurent Blanc played for Montpellier from 1981-1993 and he scored 76 goals in 24 appearances in the league for the club. Eric Cantona, Roger Milla, Carlos Valderama and Olivier Giroud played in Montpellier’s colors as well, but Pascal Baills is the player with most appearances for the club (429).
La Paillade did remarkably well to win the Ligue 1 trophy in 2012 and that is considered the club’s biggest success. Montpellier won Coupe de France on two occasions (1929, 1990), with the team beating FC Sete and FC Paris respectively in the title games. The team welcome their rivals at Stade de la Mosson and the capacity of the stadium is 32.900. In 1999 Montpellier won the UEFA Intertoto Cup.
