Montpellier HSC vs Evian Thonon Gaillard Preview: France Ligue 1 34e Jounee

Pre Match
May 1, 2012 8:00 PM BST
Stade de la Mosson — Montpellier

Team News

Montpellier 

 

After the away win at Toulouse, it seems that Rene Girard has no fresh injury worries, but one change will need to be made to the team that faced TFC on Friday.

 

John Utaka is suspended and will miss one game, youngster Remy Cabella should step in to his spot on the left. Geoffrey Dernis is also still out as he tries to regain fitness after a long term injury.

 

Young Jonathan Tinham will miss the rest of the season after suffering an injury to his right-foot. He had only played four times this season.

 

Probable lineups : Jourdren, Bedimo, Hilton, Yanga-Mbiwa, Bocaly, Saihi, Estrada, Cabella, Belhanda, Camara, Giroud. (4-2-3-1).

Evian Thonon Gaillar

 

Already sidelined through injury, Jonathan Mensah will undergo surgery on his thigh and miss the rest of the season. Also ruled out for the season is Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen, who will miss four weeks with a thigh strain.

 

His midfield partner Olivier Sorlin is suspended. Midfield options are sparse for ETG. Even though he has been light on options, Pablo Correa has done a great job recentl. With midfielders Wass and Lacour filling in for the full-backs, it would be surprising to see that many changes this week.

 

Fabrice Ehret and Bertrand Laquiat are ruled out through injury. Evian have suffered a huge blow as they will be without Sidney Govou for the rest of the season due to an Achilles injury.

 

Probable lineups : Andersen, Lacour, Angoula, Cambon, Wass, Kahlenberg, Leroy, Rabiu, Barbosa, Khelifa, Sagbo. (4-4-2).  

 

	Probable Lineups Statistical Comparision
	(60)    43	Goals	33    (47)
	(36)    28	Assists	23    (31)
	(1.1)   1.3	Shots pg	1.1   (0.8)
	(59%)  61%	Aerial Duel Success	46%  (47%)
	(0.7)   0.6	Dribbles pg	0.4    (0.2)
	(1.6)   1.4	Tackles pg	1.3    (1.2)

  

Match Facts

Montpellier have won their last 8 home matches in Ligue 1.

Montpellier have kept a clean sheet in 7 of their last 8 home matches in Ligue 1.

Evian Thonon Gaillar have kept a clean sheet in their last 4 away matches in Ligue 1.

Evian Thonon Gaillar have been winning at both half time and full time in their last 4 away matches in Ligue 1.

Evian Thonon Gaillar have won their last 4 away matches in Ligue 1.

There have been over 2.5 goals scored in Evian Thonon Gaillar's last 3 games in Ligue 1.

 

Head to Head

France - Ligue 1 ‎(FRA1)‎

Dec 21, 2011

Evian Thonon Gaillard 4 - Montpellier HSC 2

 

Prediction

Lille's 2-1 win over PSG gave Montpellier a five point lead at the top of Ligue 1. Tuesday night's game could see the league leaders extend that gap over their nearest challengers to a massive eight points. With only three games to play afterwards, and PSG facing tough games against Saint-Etienne and Valenciennes - three points on Tuesday could see Montpellier get one hand on Le Championnat.

 

To heed a warning before fans of La Paillade get too excited, they must go back to the return fixture in Decemeber. 2-1 up after goals from Olivier Giroud and Younes Belhanda, they were then pegged back and truely put in their place by Evian. Saber Khelifa, Cedric Cambon and Brice Djadjedje scored second-half goals and Montpellier were beaten 4-2, handing PSG the lead in the title race.

 

With so many players missing in the Evian midfield, veterans like Jerome Leroy and Cedric Barbosa will be called upon, and facing Jamel Saihi, Marco Estrada and Belhanda, it could be a tough ask for Pablo Correa's side. Montpellier have a wonderful record at the Stade de la Mosson and it would take a brave man to bet against them.

Montpellier  2 - 0  Evian Thonon Gaillar  

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