Strasbourg welcome Saint-Etienne to the Stade de la Meinau on Saturday in a match that will have big implications in the battle at the bottom, as well as for the top four.
Liam Rosenior's men remain one of the most in-form clubs anywhere in Europe, while Saint-Etienne aided their survival push with a huge win last weekend.
Match preview
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Strasbourg's remarkable surge up the standings in 2025 may have taken a slight hit in recent weeks, but they are still well placed to pull off the unlikely feat achieved by Brest last season.
The Blue-and-Whites have navigated their way through two tricky fixtures unscathed, despite being pegged back late on against Nice, before holding Monaco to a 0-0 draw at the Stade Louis II, becoming just the second team to avoid defeat there since November.
Those two draws have seen the Alsace club fall to seventh, but they are level on points with Lyon and Nice, who are above them only on goal difference, while the gap to the top four is a mere two points.
Avoiding defeat in those two difficult matchups also saw Strasbourg extend their unbeaten run to a staggering 10 matches, taking 34 points in Ligue 1 since the turn of the year - only Paris Saint-Germain have more (38).
Rosenior's men still have to face champions PSG, but their other three remaining fixtures all come against sides currently in the bottom four.
Two of them come at home, firstly to Saint-Etienne, before finishing the season against Angers here at the Meinau, and the hosts have only lost one game in 14 here this season, taking 29 points from a possible 42.
Assuming PSG win the Coupe de France against Reims, that will see seventh place secure a European spot, and Strasbourg can confirm their spot in the top seven this week with a win, paired with a defeat for Lens at home to Auxerre.
Saint-Etienne have their own ambitions, and they are concerned with maintaining their top-flight status, so they will hope to replicate the performance they put together in the reverse fixture when they beat Strasbourg 2-0 back in November.
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Eirik Horneland's men gave their survival bid a huge boost last weekend, beating rivals Lyon 2-1 in the Derby Rhone-Alpes thanks to a double from in-form striker Lucas Stassin.
However, Les Verts could be in trouble after the game was halted for 45 minutes after the linesman was struck by a coin thrown from a home supporter just before half time, meaning a points deduction could be in store, with the incident still under review.
Any points being knocked off their current tally could be fatal in their hopes of staying up, with ASSE still in the automatic relegation places with four games to go, despite closing the gap entirely to 16th-placed Le Havre last weekend.
Le Havre have a difficult run of games to finish, with both clubs still set to face Strasbourg and Monaco, but Les Verts will hope they can turn the tables in their final two games when they face Reims and Toulouse.
Few will give the visitors any hope in this encounter, considering they have won just once away from home this season (against bottom-of-the-table Montpellier), while they have lost all eight on the road against top-half clubs, conceding 26.
Team News
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Strasbourg's utility man Habib Diarra is a doubt for this one after he was forced off in the draw with Monaco last weekend before the hour mark, potentially joining Dion Sahi on the sidelines.
English teenager Samuel Amo-Ameyaw was unfortunate to lose his place in this side last weekend after a great showing against Nice, but with weaker opposition up next, Rosenior could put the winger back in from the start.
There seems to be no route back into the XI for Swede Sebastian Nanasi though, despite being arguably their best player during the first half of the season, as he was an unused sub last time out.
The hosts will have to keep tabs on visiting striker Stassin, whose double last weekend means he has now scored nine goals in his last nine games, spearheading Les Verts' push to avoid an instant return to Ligue 2.
Horneland will have defender Yvann Macon back from suspension here, but while Dylan Batubinsika is available, he has had his place in the side taken by Dinamo Zagreb loanee Maxime Bernauer.
Benjamin Bouchouari is a doubt after missing the win over Lyon with injury, and he could remain sidelined along with Pierre Cornud and Augustine Boakye.
Strasbourg possible starting lineup:
Petrovic; Doukoure, Omobamidele, Sarr; Doue, Barco, Andrey Santos, Diego Moreira; Bakwa, Emegha, Amo-Ameyaw
Saint-Etienne possible starting lineup:
Larsonneur; Appiah, Bernauer, Nade, Petrot; Tardieu, Ekwah, Moueffek; Cardona, Stassin, Davitashvili
We say: Strasbourg 1-0 Saint-Etienne
Going 10 games unbeaten should have Strasbourg down as big favourites to beat a side currently in the bottom two, and it is tough to see anything but that, even though the majority of their wins are by narrow scorelines.
Saint-Etienne have not won back-to-back games all season, losing 17 on their return to Ligue 1, and despite an excellent performance last weekend in the derby, they are unlikely to replicate it against a strong Strasbourg.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
