Form and Line-up of Saint-Etienne
Montanier's Saint-Etienne players did not cope with the pressure at the end and surrendered the direct promotion place to Ligue 1 to Le Mans, but the team are certainly satisfied with their results in this campaign. Since 9 May the hosts have beaten Amiens (5:0) and then got past Rodez in the play-off semi-final (1:0 after penalties). In that match the side allowed only 0.67 xGA and two shots on target. The penalty shootout dragged on (both teams took 10 kicks each), but the support at Geoffroy-Guichard added confidence to the fans' favourites.
Important numbers for Saint-Etienne:
The home team have suffered only one defeat in their last eight home matches. Six of those ended in victories.
Since the beginning of March Saint-Etienne have kept four clean sheets in six home games.
In Ligue 2 only Troyes have scored more than Saint-Etienne (60 compared to 59).
Probable Saint-Etienne line-up (4-2-3-1): Gautier Larsonneur — Maxime Berno, Julien Le Cardinal, Ben Old, Kevin Pedro — Abdoulaye Kante, Luan Gadegbeku — Joshua Duffus, Zuriko Davitashvili, Irvin Cardona — Lucas Stassin.
Absentees: Florian Tardieu, Nadir El Jemali, Chico Lamba, Mahmoud Jaber (all injured).
Form and Line-up of Nice
The Eaglets finished two points short of safety in Ligue 1. The main setback for Nice in recent weeks was probably not the French Cup final, where Lens were clearly stronger (1:3), but the disastrous trip to Auxerre (1:2). It was this opponent who took 15th place in the league and finished ahead of Nice. Away to their direct rivals the visitors created better (1.33-0.85 xG), but once again made poor use of their chances.
Important numbers for Nice:
Nice have the worst finishing in Ligue 1 — according to xG they are almost 10 goals under their expected tally (9.79).
In 2026 Nice have collected only 15 points — only three teams have fewer, two of whom were relegated.
Nice have suffered six defeats in their last 11 away matches.
Probable Nice line-up (3-4-2-1): Maxime Dupe — Kodjo Oppong, Dante, Antoine Mendy — Melvin Bard, Hicham Boudaoui, Djibril Koulibaly, Jonathan Clauss — Sofiane Diop, Mohamed-Ali Cho, Elye Wahi.
Absentees: Mohamed Abdelmonem, Moise Bombito, Everton Pereira da Silva (all injured).
