The French Ligue 1 playoff is an exciting time for neutral fans of French football but for those of the teams involved it can be a very nervous experience.
The team who finishes 18th in Ligue 1 meets the team who finished third in Ligue 1 over two legs. The winner on aggregate gets to play in the French top flight in 2018/19. This season, the game is between Toulouse and Ajaccio, who played in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 respectively.
The first leg was played at Ajaccio last week and it was the away team, Toulouse, who came away with a commanding 3-0 win. Therefore, it is the current Ligue 1 team who come into the second leg as huge favourites to get the job done and seal their place in the top division for next season.
The 3-0 win at Ajaccio was the second match in succession Toulouse have won following their final day victory over Guingamp at home in Ligue 1. Trends show it was only the third time this season Toulouse have won two or more games in a row and only once have they managed to string three wins together.
Two victories in their last three Ligue 1 home games helped Toulouse away from the automatic relegation position of 19th and they have scored 2 goals in each of those three matches. Mickael Debeve’s team have scored 2 or more goals in five of their last seven home matches and will be hoping to finish what has been a disappointing season in style.
Ajaccio know they are up against it in this tie and their best chance of a win came in the home leg last week. If wasn’t for dropping points in the final stages of the regular Ligue 2 season, Ajaccio could have achieved automatic promotion but they lost at Reims and Le Havre plus were held by Auxerre and Niort, the latter of which was at home.
Ajaccio required penalties to come through to this stage against Le Havre having drawn 2-2 at home and their form has tailed off at just the wrong time.
Away from home trends show Ajaccio have struggled to pick up wins and they have won only two of their last nine away Ligue 2 games. Ajaccio have failed to win their last three away games, losing at Reims and Le Havre plus drawing at Auxerre and have scored just 1 goal across those three matches.
Looking ahead to the team news and Toulouse will still be without midfielder Yannick Cahuzac and forward Andy Delort. Therefore, they are likely to go in with the same starting XI from the first leg.
Ajaccio could start with Riffi Mandanda in goal after he was forced to come on following an injury to Jean Leca in the first leg. Mathieu Coutadeur and Joris Sainati are both suspended and will miss the match.