Soccer betting preview: Auxerre welcomes Montpellier in what could be a tight duel

Auxerre and Montpellier should both be in good shape for this meeting, as there's been enough days for both of them to train and rest since their last matches.

Auxerre form and stats

With 2 Ligue 1 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats from their home games, Auxerre are certainly not brimming with confidence. When Auxerre hosts teams that live in the bottom of the table (like Auxerre, Troyes, Angers SCO, Brest, Ajaccio and Strasbourg), they have won 2 of 4 matches! It's trouble wherever Auxerre are playing these days as they have suffered five straight defeats now, regardless of arena. They really need to get back to winning ways.

Times are rough for the home team, having gone 292 minutes without scoring a league goal. Fofana (own goal) was the last player to find the net.

Auxerre are returning here after guesting Niort in a Coupe de France fixture and winning with a 4-0 scoreline.

This is expected to be a close game, with Auxerre perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Auxerre as a small favourite), we find 5 games. Auxerre has won 2 of these, drawn 3 and lost 0.

There will be little rest for Auxerre after this match as they are travelling to Monaco for a Ligue 1 game in only three days.

With more than 1,5 conceded goals on average, the Auxerre defense is not exactly impregnable. 17 goals conceded from 9 games. You can find more goal stats on the Statistics tab above. Auxerre has at home met teams with this table position (low), four times. It has ended with less than 2.5 goals 3 of 4 times.

Montpellier form and stats

There's been little loot from Montpellier's travels as they have only collected 7 points from 9 away games in the Ligue 1. Montpellier only have 2 wins to counter their 6 defeats and 1 draw. It's a growing despair in Montpellier as they have recorded three consecutive losses.

Montpellier failed to get anything from their last game, a home match vs Nantes (placed 13th) that ended with defeat 0-3. Midfielder Ferri was the best performer of that match, with a rating of 6.93. Ferri hit two key passes and had 48 successful passes (of 56 total).

As mentioned above, this is an open game with no clear favourite. We have found 8 similar matches played by Montpellier in our archives, and the results are: 3 wins for Montpellier, 3 draws and 2 defeats.

The visitors are returning home after this fixture, hosting PSG in just three days.

The travelling fans enjoy Montpellier's attacking play in away games, having scored 16 goals in 9 league matches away. For Montpellier, more than two goals on average per game end up in their own net. When Montpellier is visiting a side on the bottom half, 2 of 2 matches have ended with three or more goals. These are matches against Montpellier, Troyes, Angers SCO, Brest, Ajaccio and Strasbourg.

Head 2 Head

Here's the final score when the squads met previously this campaign; Montpellier - Auxerre 1-2. H2H stats regardless of arena (last seven matches): Auxerre three wins, two draws and Montpellier two victories. As for goals, four matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), three games had two or less. The games between these sides sometimes lean towards being rough and physical, having seen 7 sending-offs from the last seven duels.

Top Goalscorers

M. Niang 3 goals

Auxerre missing players

Montpellier missing players