Strasbourg and Clermont face off at the Stade de la Meinau on Sunday lunchtime in a high noon encounter in the French top flight with the hosts still in search of their first win of the season while the visitors will be seeking back to back wins in Ligue 1.
Strasbourg are still without a win six games into this new French top flight campaign having drawn four and lost twice, the defeats coming in the form of losses incurred against Monaco and Auxerre.
🔙 #TrainingRCSA I 𝗗𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗮̀ 𝗹'𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶̂𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗶 𝗳𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗿 🥰 pic.twitter.com/aJKPMxgcr4— Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (@RCSA) September 7, 2022
🔙 #TrainingRCSA I 𝗗𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗮̀ 𝗹'𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶̂𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗶 𝗳𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗿 🥰 pic.twitter.com/aJKPMxgcr4
But the hosts have managed to pick up points in draws with Nice, Reims, Nantes and Brest.
However, Strasbourg now occupy a place in the early relegation zone, sitting third from bottom although the hosts will feel that their fortunes (especially at home) should change sooner rather than later as they have lost just one of their last 12 home games in Ligue 1.
Within this sequence, Strasbourg have picked up six wins in the process, one of which was a 1-0 victory over Sunday’s opponents, Clermont, towards the end of last season.
Defenders Nyamsi and Perrin are again doubts for Strasbourg while midfielder Prcic is suspended after a red card against Brest.
Clermont bounced back from recent defeats to Lorient and Marseille last time out in the French top flight.
They registered a solid 2-0 home win against Toulouse which will give the visitors a boost of confidence heading into this Sunday lunchtime showdown at the Stade de la Meinau.
It’s been a mixed start to the new Ligue 1 campaign for Clermont but although the visitors have suffered defeats to PSG, Lorient and Marseille, they’ll be pleased with picking up wins against Reims, Nice and the aforementioned Toulouse.
Indeed, these three wins have placed Clermont in the top half of the Ligue 1 table in 8th place and they may fancy their chances of catching Strasbourg cold on Sunday despite picking up just two wins out of their last nine outings on the road.
Having recorded a win over Toulouse last time out, Clermont manager, Pascal Gastien, may resist making changes for this trip to Strasbourg, giving the likes of defender Zeffane and midfielder Gonalons extra time to recover from recent knocks.
Strasbourg have made a slow start and this may allow Clermont to get a foothold in this tussle and grab a result on Sunday lunchtime.