Metz vs St Etienne Predictions

• Metz have won three of their last four home league games against St Etienne.
• St Etienne have lost two of their last three away Ligue 2 contests
• Metz have kept clean sheets in three of their last four league games at home.

Metz can make life easier for themselves with home win

Metz can begin to distance themselves from the relegation scrap with a home win over sinking Saint Etienne at the Stade Saint-Symphorien on Monday night. The Maroons have been slow to get going again after finishing second bottom of Ligue 1 last season, but they have fared slightly better than the team that finished one place above them and followed them through the trapdoor.

Les Verts are in a mess and look capable of double dropping into National 1 unless something changes pretty quickly. Laurent Batlles’ side have taken only four points from the last five games, although the recent fixtures have not been kind.  There problems are plentiful, but one headache that Battles did not need came when the club suspended one of his first-team forwards for turning up drunk to training.

Les Verts are staggering from one crisis to the next

St Etienne did manage to pull off a shock away win at fourth-placed Amiens on their last league assignment, but things turned bad again when they were knocked out of the cup by lowly Rodez last week. Metz have lost each of their last two away games 2-0 to the top two, but have been much better at home – where they have maintained clean sheets in three of their last four.

Central midfielder Habib Maiga is available to return from suspension to face his former club, but goalkeeper Marc-Aurele Caillard, who started 17 games in Ligue 1 last term remains out.

Metz may edge this one based on the strength of their defensive alignment and the fact that lightning rarely strikes twice in quick succession for St Etienne road wins. The hosts have won three of their last four home games against Les Verts and can do so again with a scoreline of 2-0 forecast due to the visitors’ strange habit of conceding exactly two goals in their away games.

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