Lorient – Saint-Etienne

Both teams desperately need a win to start their ascent from the bottom of the table

Lorient and Saint-Etienne are in the fight for survival. They have created a small gap from the relegation zone, but they are in s playoff zone. Saint-Etienne sit in 18th place, while Lorient have picked up just one more point, as well as Clermont. These three teams are likely to be fighting to avoid the knockout rounds. Therefore, the loss of even one point could be costly, and the head-to-head encounter should turn out to be extremely tense. Lorient and Saint-Etienne are very unstable, although they have shown glimpses of good play in recent rounds at times. That keeps them out of the relegation zone. However, last round both faced the Ligue 1 leaders. That's why Lorient lost to PSG 1-5 and Saint-Etienne lost to Marseille 2-4. However, it is noteworthy that both teams scored goals and generally showed a fighting spirit. We can expect that in a game with a more equal opponent they will be able to show character and their attacking skills. St Etienne have only failed to score in one of their last nine Ligue 1 games. And it makes no difference whether they played at home or away. Lorient also display an attacking attitude. They have scored in four of their last five matches. In the first round match between Saint-Etienne and Lorient, a 1-1 draw was recorded. It should be noted that in the last six meetings between these teams, two or more goals have been scored on average per match. In the first leg, Hazri was the top scorer with nine goals for the Greens. For Lorient, the top scorer is Moffi with five goals and Loriente has four goals. At home Lorient play is unstable. They have four wins at home with five defeats and five draws. St Etienne have just three away wins with eight defeats and three draws. Therefore, this meeting can be called a game between two worthy opponents, the outcome of which is difficult to predict, but we can assume that, given the tournament position and the characteristics of the game of Saint-Etienne and Lorient, the goals will be scored at both ends.