Match preview: 6 points separate the squads ahead of this match, Valenciennes having performed best. Can Pau strike back?
- Pau have yet to win a game at home.
It's quite the trip for Valenciennes when visiting Pau as the cities are 900 kilometers apart.
We should expect both teams to be fresh and ready for this match, as there is some time since both teams last played. Let's have a look at how the teams are doing!
Pau form and stats
Pau have played three Ligue 2 home games so far, perhaps enough to set expectations for the season. In that case, only 2 points from these matches could be a signal of rough times ahead.
It's back home for Pau, who return with a good feeling about themselves after beating Laval away with the result 1-0. Bassouamina found the net in that victory. A big relief, as that was the first league win after failing to win seven consecutive fixtures. The victory against Laval came after Bassouamina's winning goal. The Pau manager Tholot was very happy afterwards with the decision to bring on that player in the 65th minute. Midfield player Beusnard got a match rating of 8.32 in that game, the max score being 10. Beusnard dribled past the opponent 6 of 6 times and had 50 successful passes (of 56 total).
In the match before that, Pau hosted Saint-Etienne and drew the game 2-2.The bookmakers consider this a fairly even contest. One could say only the home advantage separates the teams. It could be relevant to look at how Pau have performed in matches similar to this (as small favourites). Our database has found 13 matches with the results: Won 8, drawn 5 and lost 0.
Pau have scored 2 league goals here from 3 matches, not a lot. Defensively it’s touch-and-go for the home team as 5 goals have been conceded.
Valenciennes form and stats
1-2-1 is the win-draw-loss statistic for Valenciennes in their Ligue 2 matches away.
It's another away game for the visitors, as they travelled to Rodez (placed 20th) in their previous outing. The match ended in a draw 1-1. Cuffaut, who plays in defense, got the "man of the match" on his team with the rating 7.45. Cuffaut hit three key passes and won 4 of 6 duels.
A home win before that, celebrating 3-2 vs Nîmes.So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Valenciennes playing away and similar expectations, we found 10 relevant matches. Results were 3 Valenciennes wins, 4 draws and 3 defeats.
Valenciennes are seemingly not capable of scoring regularly on their travels in the league. They have only managed 2 goals from 4 away games. They concede less than a goal on average per away game (3 so far).
Head 2 Head
H2H stats regardless of arena (last four matches): Pau one win, one draw and Valenciennes two victories. As for goals, two matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), two games had two or less.
Top Goalscorers
  H. Saivet 4 goals |   I. Hamache 2 goals | M. Noubissi 2 goals |
Pau missing players
Valenciennes missing players
| Pau | Valenciennes | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 8 | 3 | 1 | Played | P | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Won | W | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | Drew | D | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | Lost | L | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 2 | 0 | Scored | S | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 13 | 5 | 3 | Conceded | C | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 88% | 67% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 75% | 75% |
| 75% | 67% | 100% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| 50% | 67% | 100% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| 25% | 33% | 0% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 0% | 0% | 25% |
| 0% | 0% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 0% | 12% |
| 50% | 33% | 0% | BTTS | BTTS | 50% | 25% | 38% |
| 25% | 33% | 0% | Clean Sheets | C S | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| 38% | 67% | 100% | Failed to Score | F T | 0% | 50% | 38% |
| 5.1 | 5.3 | 7 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| 4 | 3 | 4 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 3 | 4.2 | 4.5 |
| 2.8 | 2.3 | 2 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1 | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7.2 | 9.7 | 15 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 12 | 8 | 7 |
| 2.9 | 2.7 | 3 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 5.5 | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| 26% | 25% | 0% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 18% | 15% | 32% |
| 9.9 | 8.3 | 10 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 14 | 12 | 11.6 |
| 4.8 | 4.3 | 6 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 5 | 4.2 | 4.4 |
- Pau have conceded at least twice as many goals as they have scored.
- Pau have yet to win a game at home.
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Sochaux | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 16 |
| 2 | Le Havre | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 15 |
| 3 | Caen | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 15 |
| 4 | Bordeaux | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 14 |
| 5 | Amiens SC | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| 6 | Valenciennes | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 |
| 7 | Metz | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| 8 | Dijon | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 11 |
| 9 | Guingamp | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 10 | Paris | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | -1 | 10 |
| 11 | Bastia | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 10 |
| 12 | Annecy | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| 13 | Grenoble Foot 38 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -3 | 9 |
| 14 | Nîmes | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -2 | 8 |
| 15 | Saint-Etienne | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 7 |
| 16 | Laval | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -5 | 7 |
| 17 | Quevilly Rouen | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | -5 | 7 |
| 18 | Niort | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -7 | 7 |
| 19 | Pau | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -7 | 7 |
| 20 | Rodez | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -5 | 6 |
