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Two teams separated by just one point and two places in the Ligue 1 table will square off on Friday when Lorient play host to Saint-Etienne at the Stade du Moustoir.
Lorient head into the game fresh off a humbling 5-1 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), while the visitors lost 4-2 against Olympique Lyon.
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Lorient have now won just one of their last four games, losing twice and claiming one draw since the start of March. With 28 points from 30 games, they are 16th in the Ligue 1 standings, level on points with 17th-placed Clermont Foot.
Similarly, Saint-Etienne continue to struggle for form. They have now failed to win their last three games after playing successive draws against Lille and Troyes. With 27 points from 30 games, Saint-Etienne are 18th on the log, four points above Metz in the automatic relegation spot.
Lorient vs Saint-Etienne Head-To-Head
The results have been split right down the middle in this fixture, with both teams claiming 13 wins from their last 34 meetins. The spoils have been shared on eight occasions.
Lorient Form Guide (all competitions): L-D-W-L-W.
Saint-Etienne Form Guide (all competitions): L-D-D-W-L.
Lorient vs Saint-Etienne Team News
Lorient
The hosts will be without Samuel Loric and Stephane Diarra, who have been sidelined through knee and muscle injuries respectively.
Injured: Samuel Loric, Stephane Diarra.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: None.
Saint-Etienne
Wahbi Khazri, Falaye Sacko, Yvan Neyou, Romain Hamouma, Saidou Sow and Yvann Macon have all been ruled out through injuries.
Injured: Wahbi Khazri, Falaye Sacko, Yvan Neyou, Romain Hamouma, Saidou Sow, Yvann Macon.'
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
Unavailable: None.
Lorient vs Saint-Etienne Predicted XIs
Lorient (4-1-4-1): Matthieu Dreyer; Houboulang Mendes, Julien Laporte, Leo Petrot, Vincent Le Goff; Laurent Abergel; Terem Moffi, Thomas Monconduit, Enzo Le Fée, Dango Ouattara; Ibrahima Kone.
Saint-Etienne (3-5-2): Paul Bernardoni; Eliaquim Mangala, Mickael Nade, Timothée Kolodziejczak; Sada Thioub, Mahdi Camara, Ryad Boudebouz, Lucas Gourna-Douath, Zaydou Youssouf; Arnaud Nordin, Denis Bouanga.
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Lorient vs Saint-Etienne Prediction
Both teams have struggled to get going in recent weeks and will seek a pick-me-up on Friday. Considering they are in similar form and head into the game evenly matched on paper, they could settle for a share of the spoils.
Prediction: Lorient 1-1 Saint-Etienne
