Thursday 02/10/2014, 21:45, Europa League Groups, St Etienne vs Dnipro

St Etienne vs Dnipro Preview

Four teams are tied for the fourth place in the French first division, with St Etienne being one of them and they only have a narrow gap to close to overtake the leader. Meanwhile, the French side is struggling in the European competition as the scoreless draw on the road at Qarabag was regarded by specialists as a failure. Another draw would be inacceptable and that's why the hosts will be taking additional chances, in an attempt of defeating Dnipro in the second round of the group stage.

St Etienne vs Dnipro Odds

At Bet365

St Etienne 2.00, Draw 3.50, Dnipro 4.20

St Etienne vs Dnipro Tips

St Etienne was on the verge of ending Marseille's winning streak over the weekend, but they were unable to recover after allowing two goals in the first half. The hosts dominated the match and even though they didn't create too many scoring opportunities, they did a great job at defending the narrow lead.

Tonight, things will be slightly different, with St Etienne expected to change the starting formation, so that it will feature three strikers instead of one. Erdin is guaranteed to play up front as he is the most prolific scorer, but he will also be joined by Monnet-Paquet and Gradel. These two strikers were kept on the bench for consecutive games as they were mending injuries but tonight they should be fit to play.

By comparison, the visiting team travels to France hoping to earn the first points in Europa League, after suffering a narrow margin defeat in the opening round. Inter Milan got the best of them and one goal was enough to seal the fate of a match that the Italians dominated from one end to the other.

Dnipro is doing great on the domestic front, leading the national championship, with a narrow advantage over archrivals Donetsk and Kiev. They chose to rest some key players over the weekend and the result was disappointing, with Volyn winning the game after scoring just once from a penalty kick.

Key Facts

• The Ukrainians are a force to be reckoned with when they have home pitch advantage, but on the road they usually field a defensive formation.
• St Etienne lost a single match last round and that was the only game when they allowed two goals

St Etienne vs Dnipro Prediction

Even odds are just high enough to justify a bet on the home side, but if the odds drop further, punters would be better off staying away from this fixture. Right now, it is worth backing St Etienne to win at 2.00 with Bet365, as they will be the offensive formation and will probably come out firing on all cylinders.

Bet: St Etienne @ 2.00 with Bet365