National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Nîmes or Saint-Étienne that keep their silverware dream alive.
It's no vacation for neither Nîmes nor Saint-Étienne as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
Nîmes form and stats
Last season, Nîmes's Coupe de la Ligue journey ended in the 8th finals.Nîmes's struggle is real here at Stade des Costieres with only 8 points collected from 8 Ligue 1 games. The win-draw-lost numbers are ugly: 2-2-4. The home team are struggling everywhere these days as they haven't won a game, regardless of being the home or the away team, in eleven attempts. Two defeats in a row at home hurts for Nîmes, their manager B. Blaquart and the supporters. There are certain expectations for improvement.
Nîmes's previous game was also a home match, the defeat 0-1 versus Nantes. Preceding that match was a Ligue 1 defeat to Olympique Lyonnais (0-4).
There's a new game coming up fairly quickly for Nîmes as they are travelling to their away game against Olympique Marseille in the Ligue 1. That match is three days after this one.
The goals haven't exactly been flowing for Nîmes here at Stade des Costieres in the league, with less than one goal per game on average (7 from 8 games). On the other hand, Nîmes have conceded 10 goals.
Saint-Étienne form and stats
They also participated in Coupe de la Ligue last season. This ended in the 16th finals.The story so far for the visiting team on their Ligue 1 travels is 4 wins, 0 draws and 5 defeats. With two straight losses from their last two away games, Saint-Étienne are hoping that it's time for some travel points again.
The manager C. Puel was unhappy after their last game, a Ligue 1 match played at their home ground Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. Saint-Étienne suffered a 0-4 loss to Paris Saint Germain. A 0-1 defeat away at Wolfsburg before that.
Saint-Étienne lost the plot completely in their previous game, as mentioned above. They need to recover quickly from that 0-4 beating and focus on this one. Saint-Étienne goalkeeper Stéphane Ruffier had a great day against Paris Saint Germain, but despite making 7 saves the loss could not be avoided.
Saint-Étienne has another fixture away, a Ligue 1 game, against Strasbourg in just three days. A tough schedule for the visitors!
Saint-Étienne find the net in their away games, although not all the time. 10 goals from 9 away fixtures in the league. Saint-Étienne have conceded 16 goals in these games.
Head 2 Head
Numbers for the last five meetings between these two teams are: 0 wins for Nîmes, 2 draws and 3 wins for Saint-Étienne. Over 2,5 goals: 1 time; under 2,5 goals: 4 games.Top Goalscorers
  Denis Bouanga 7 goals |  R. Hamouma 5 goals |   R. Ripart 3 goals |
Nîmes missing players
Saint-Étienne missing players
| Nîmes | Saint-Étienne | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 6 | 5 | Won | W | 4 | 7 | ||
| 9 | 3 | Drew | D | 1 | 8 | ||
| 10 | 5 | Lost | L | 8 | 10 | ||
| 28 | 18 | Scored | S | 15 | 28 | ||
| 38 | 17 | Conceded | C | 24 | 37 | ||
| 88% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 92% | ||
| 64% | 69% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 69% | 64% | ||
| 56% | 54% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 69% | 52% | ||
| 36% | 31% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 38% | 36% | ||
| 16% | 15% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 23% | 16% | ||
| 40% | 46% | BTTS | BTTS | 62% | 56% | ||
| 32% | 31% | Clean Sheets | C S | 15% | 24% | ||
| 40% | 23% | Failed to Score | F T | 23% | 28% | ||
| 5.4 | 6 | Corners For (avg) | C F | 4 | 4.6 | ||
| 5 | 5.5 | Corners Against (avg) | C A | 6.1 | 4.6 | ||
| 1.4 | 1.4 | Yellow Cards (avg) | Y C | 1.9 | 1.8 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Red Cards | R C | 1 | 2 | ||
| 307 | 174 | Total Shots | T S | 110 | 269 | ||
| 93 | 59 | Shots on Target | S O | 41 | 83 | ||
| 28% | 27% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 37% | 34% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Paris Saint Germain | 17 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 39 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 7 | 30 | 42 |
| 2 | Olympique Marseille | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 20 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 35 |
| 3 | Lille | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 23 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 31 |
| 4 | Rennes | 17 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 30 |
| 5 | Nantes | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 29 |
| 6 | Reims | 17 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 27 |
| 7 | Bordeaux | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 28 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 26 |
| 8 | Olympique Lyonnais | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 28 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 25 |
| 9 | Monaco | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 26 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 25 |
| 10 | Angers SCO | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 20 | 23 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 17 | -3 | 25 |
| 11 | Saint-Étienne | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 21 | 27 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 16 | -6 | 25 |
| 12 | Montpellier | 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 22 | 19 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 24 |
| 13 | Nice | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 25 | 27 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 15 | -2 | 24 |
| 14 | Strasbourg | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 12 | -2 | 24 |
| 15 | Brest | 18 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 22 |
| 16 | Dijon | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 20 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 17 |
| 17 | Amiens SC | 17 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 32 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 19 | -12 | 17 |
| 18 | Metz | 18 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 26 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 15 | -11 | 16 |
| 19 | Toulouse | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 19 | 36 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 22 | -17 | 12 |
| 20 | Nîmes | 17 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 29 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 19 | -17 | 12 |