This match stars two contenders dwelling in the lower section of the Ligue 2, Valenciennes at 16th spot and Niort in 20th. A nice opportunity for one of the sides to better their position.
- Valenciennes have played more matches over 2,5 goals home than away.
- Niort have the most conceded goals (51) in Ligue 2
Both sides have had time to rest since their last game. Let's hope for an in-your-face fixture!
Valenciennes form and stats
Valenciennes have played 15 Ligue 2 games at their own stadium so far this season, resulting in 5-9-1 (wins-draws-losses). When Valenciennes hosts teams that live in the bottom of the table (like Valenciennes, Rodez, Pau, Nimes, Laval and Dijon), they have won 2 of 4 matches! With three straight defeats the pressure is piling up on Valenciennes to get some points in this home game.
No payout for Valenciennes in their previous match, an away game at Annecy that ended in defeat 1-2. Buatu-Mananga, defender, was given a rating of 7.41/10 in that game, top of the team. Buatu-Mananga scored one goal and won 7 of 9 duels.
Preceding that match was the home game against Paris that was lost 4-5.This is expected to be a close game, with Valenciennes perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Valenciennes as a small favourite), we find 11 games. Valenciennes has won 5 of these, drawn 5 and lost 1.
An interesting fact: 11 of the latest 13 league matches from this football club have had at least one goal from each team.
Valenciennes have proved capable of finding the net in their games here at Stade du Hainaut with 25 goals in 15 league matches. Valenciennes have conceded 20 in these home matches.
Niort form and stats
Niort have only collected 9 points from their away games in the Ligue 2, after 2-3-10 (15 played). Bitter travels for Niort as they have lost four games in a row away from home. The last time they avoided an away-from-home loss was the Dijon match.
Niort are looking to quickly end their 182 minutes long goal drought in the Ligue 2.
Niort might have something to prove in this game as they lost at home in their previous match. Sochaux proved too strong as Niort slumped to a 0-3 defeat in front of their own fans at Stade René Gaillard. Niort lost heavily in their last match (against Sochaux as mentioned above) and the damage happened in the first half. Something did not go right in the pre-game preparations. Defender Kilama was the best team player with a rating of 7.31. Kilama won 5 of 5 duels.
It was a defeat before that one as the away game against Saint-Etienne wasn't a success with a 0-2 loss.So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Niort playing away and similar expectations, we found 11 relevant matches. Results were 3 Niort wins, 5 draws and 3 defeats.
The attacking power of Niort when travelling is not overwhelming with 10 goals scored from 15 league matches away. It's been trouble in front of goal recently, as only 0 of these goals has been scored in their last three away matches. Defensive performances away have varied in quality as Niort have conceded 25 goals on the road. For more goal statistics, check out the Statistics tab above.
Head 2 Head
Valenciennes have won at least one point in the last 5 matches (3-2-0) versus Niort.Niort - Valenciennes 0-1 was the result in these contenders' previous head-to-head game, earlier this season.
Top Goalscorers
  B. Boutobba 10 goals |   A. Grbic 7 goals |  J. Cuffaut 4 goals |
Valenciennes missing players
Niort missing players
| Valenciennes | Niort | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 30 | 15 | 4 | Played | P | 5 | 15 | 30 |
| 7 | 5 | 2 | Won | W | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 12 | 9 | 2 | Drew | D | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 11 | 1 | 0 | Lost | L | 3 | 10 | 18 |
| 33 | 25 | 8 | Scored | S | 5 | 10 | 27 |
| 41 | 20 | 5 | Conceded | C | 7 | 25 | 51 |
| 90% | 87% | 75% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 93% | 93% |
| 63% | 73% | 75% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 60% | 60% | 67% |
| 43% | 53% | 75% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 40% | 47% | 57% |
| 30% | 47% | 75% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 20% | 13% | 23% |
| 7% | 13% | 25% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 20% | 13% | 17% |
| 57% | 73% | 75% | BTTS | BTTS | 60% | 33% | 47% |
| 23% | 27% | 25% | Clean Sheets | C S | 20% | 13% | 10% |
| 30% | 13% | 25% | Failed to Score | F T | 20% | 60% | 50% |
| 3.3 | 2.7 | 3.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.8 |
| 5 | 5.1 | 4 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.8 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 8.1 | 7.9 | 9.5 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 7.8 | 7.8 | 9.2 |
| 3.7 | 4.3 | 5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3 | 3 | 3.4 |
| 29% | 39% | 40% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 33% | 22% | 26% |
| 12.2 | 12.7 | 10.2 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 10.6 | 11.9 | 11.6 |
| 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.2 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.4 | 4.9 | 4.6 |
- Niort have conceded at least twice as many goals as they have scored away.
- Niort have the fewest clean sheets (3) in Ligue 2
- Niort have the most conceded goals (51) in Ligue 2
- Niort have the most conceded goals in the first half (26) in Ligue 2
- Niort have the the worst goal difference (-24) in Ligue 2
- Valenciennes have played more matches over 2,5 goals home than away.
- Valenciennes have scored at least twice as many goals at home as Niort have scored away.
- Valenciennes have won significantly less corners at home than away.
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Le Havre | 30 | 16 | 13 | 1 | 40 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 26 | 61 |
| 2 | Bordeaux | 30 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 42 | 23 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 9 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 14 | 19 | 56 |
| 3 | Sochaux | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 49 | 26 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 29 | 11 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 20 | 15 | 23 | 52 |
| 4 | Metz | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 45 | 27 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 12 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 15 | 18 | 52 |
| 5 | Bastia | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 35 | 34 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 1 | 48 |
| 6 | Grenoble Foot 38 | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 30 | 25 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 5 | 47 |
| 7 | Caen | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 37 | 32 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 23 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 22 | 5 | 46 |
| 8 | Quevilly Rouen | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 33 | 32 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 23 | 17 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 42 |
| 9 | Paris | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 35 | 37 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 17 | 21 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 16 | -2 | 40 |
| 10 | Amiens SC | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 32 | 37 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 22 | -5 | 40 |
| 11 | Saint-Etienne | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 47 | 45 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 20 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 25 | 2 | 39 |
| 12 | Guingamp | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 36 | 38 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 17 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 17 | -2 | 39 |
| 13 | Annecy | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 32 | 39 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 25 | -7 | 36 |
| 14 | Rodez | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 30 | 38 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 23 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 15 | -8 | 34 |
| 15 | Pau | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 23 | 33 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 17 | -10 | 34 |
| 16 | Valenciennes | 30 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 33 | 41 | 15 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 21 | -8 | 33 |
| 17 | Laval | 30 | 9 | 4 | 17 | 33 | 45 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 19 | 21 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 14 | 24 | -12 | 31 |
| 18 | Dijon | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 26 | 36 | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 21 | -10 | 29 |
| 19 | Nimes | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 32 | 44 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 14 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 30 | -12 | 29 |
| 20 | Niort | 30 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 27 | 51 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 17 | 26 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 25 | -24 | 26 |
