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Saturday sees two games take place in France’s Ligue 1, with the earlier kick-off involving a battle between Saint-Etienne and Reims.
Only two places separate these teams in the table, with Reims in 13th position and Saint-Etienne in 15th. They are currently tied on 29 points.
The hosts will hope to leverage home advantage to come out on top this weekend, but Reims will aim to pick up a win to leapfrog their rivals in the table.
Saint-Etienne vs Reims Head-to-Head
After a terrible run from September through to January, Saint-Etienne seem to have finally turned a corner in the current campaign.
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After winning just one of 18 games during that time, Claude Puel’s side have now won three of their last four and are unbeaten in that period.
Most recently, Saint-Etienne have beaten Metz and Rennes, both of whom are chasing European qualification. In both matches, Les Verts have kept clean sheets.
Reims, on the other hand, have not won a match since 31 January, picking up two points from a possible nine in the three games that have followed.
Reims’ last match saw them draw with Lens despite taking an early lead through Arber Zeneli.
However, David Guion’s side did comfortably defeat Saint-Etienne as recently as 9 January. That match saw them run out 3-1 victors.
However, recent results between the two have been even, with two wins for Reims, two for Saint-Etienne, and two draws.
Saint-Etienne form guide: W-D-W-L-W
Reims form guide: W-D-L-L-D
Saint-Etienne vs Reims Team News
Saint-Etienne
Saint-Etienne will have to make do without their joint-top scorer Romain Hamouma for this game. He’s sidelined with a thigh injury. Alpha Sissoko, Panagiotis Retsos and Yvann Macon are also injured.
Injured: Romain Hamouma, Alpha Sissoko, Panagiotis Retsos, Yvann Macon
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Reims
Reims have just one injury concern leading into this match. Yunis Abdelhamid is out with a hamstring injury and isn’t expected back until later in the month.
Injured: Yunis Abelhamid
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Saint-Etienne vs Reims Predicted XI
Saint-Etienne predicted XI (4-5-1): Jessy Moulin, Mathieu Debuchy, Harold Moukoudi, Pape Cisse, Timothee Kolodziejczak, Arnaud Nordin, Mahdi Camara, Lucas Gourna-Douath, Yvan Neyou, Denis Bouanga, Wahbi Khazri
Reims predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Predrag Rajkovic, Thomas Foket, Marshall Munetsi, Wout Faes, Ghislain Konan, Moreto Cassama, Nathanael Mbuku, Dereck Kutesa, Xavier Chavalerin, Arber Zeneli, Boulaye Dia
Saint-Etienne vs Reims Prediction
This is a tight match to call. On overall form, it is easy to favor Reims, but Saint-Etienne’s improvement in recent weeks has been remarkable and they have the home advantage.
We believe Saint-Etienne’s good form might continue here, particularly as Reims haven’t won in recent weeks.
Prediction: Saint-Etienne 2-1 Reims
