There are just three weeks remaining in the French Ligue 1 and although the title has long been decided, there is a great race for the final Champions League qualifying place.
Two of the teams in contention meet on Friday night as St Etienne host Montpellier at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
St Etienne begin this round of fixtures in fourth place, 1 point behind Lyon who currently occupy the final Champions League position. Montpellier are in fifth place, 7 points adrift of St Etienne but can close the gap to 4 points with a win.
Trends show Saint-Étienne have been in excellent form and they are undefeated in their last seven Ligue 1 games. The 5-0 win at Caen in the middle of March has seen them embark on a great run which has included six wins and one draw.
The wins have come over Caen, Nimes, Bordeaux, Reims, Toulouse and Monaco, the latter of which was away from home last weekend.
St Etienne have won each of their last three home Ligue One games, scoring 2 or more goals in the process. They have also conceded just 1 goal in those 3 matches, keeping two clean sheets. Trends show they have won nine of their last twelve home league games.
Montpellier HSC have been on a good run of their own and they have remained undefeated in their last four Ligue 1 games. However, they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Amiens last weekend and that was a match they were hoping to win. It was 2 points dropped and they cannot afford to do the same in this game.
Away form has been where the problems have come for Montpellier this season and trends show they have won just two of their last ten league matches on the road. They did win last time out at Strasbourg but keeping a clean sheet has been a problem and Montpellier have failed to keep one in their last five attempts.
Both teams have scored in nine of their last eleven Ligue One games.
Looking ahead to the team news and St Etienne are without Thimothée Kolodziejczak who is suspended plus Gabriel Silva, Yannis Salibur and Kevin Monnet-Paquet who are injured.
Montpellier have just two injury concerns with Facundo Piriz and Keagan Larenzo Dolly rated as doubtful.
This is a must-win game for both teams in their pursuit of a top three place this season. St Etienne are in good form and with home advantage plus Montpellier’s poor away form, it should be the home side who come out on top. However, Montpellier could find the back the net to see both teams score.