Aiming to leave the relegation playoff spot, Le Havre travel to 10th-placed Auxerre seeking maximum points in Sunday’s Ligue 1 contest at Stade de l’Abbe Deschamps.
The third-bottom side enter gameweek 32 having never lost to AJA in the top flight and hope to extend that 14-game sequence to boost their survival prospects.
Match preview
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Auxerre began the season aiming for survival in the top flight after winning Ligue 2 last term, and the Burgundians were ultimately successful.
This ambition was aided by an impressive record on home soil, as evidenced by the 10th-placed team suffering just one loss in 12 fixtures in front of their supporters — a 3-0 defeat by Monaco in mid-September.
However, Auxerre have now lost two of their last three at Stade de l’Abbe Deschamps, suffering losses to Strasbourg (1-0) and Lyon (3-1), surrounding a 1-0 success over relegated Montpellier.
Seeking to respond to their defeat against Lyon, the Burgundians, who have not fallen to consecutive Ligue 1 defeats on home soil since May-June 2023, strive to maintain that nearly two-year run.
Considering they have never been beaten in consecutive top-flight fixtures against Le Havre across 29 encounters, Christophe Pelissier‘s troops will back themselves to avoid losing to Didier Digard‘s men in both matches this term.
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That aspiration is bolstered by Le Club Doyen’s ongoing results in Ligue 1 and their recent performances on the road.
Digard’s men may have avoided losing to Monaco last time out, but the third-bottom outfit have claimed just two top-flight victories in the last seven, losing three in that period, including two of the previous three.
Le Havre’s recent mixed results on their travels include two defeats at Lyon (4-2) and Paris Saint-Germain, sandwiching a 2-0 success over Montpellier, leaving uncertainty about which version of the Dean Club will surface on Sunday.
Despite their club’s recent losses away from home, the travelling support will point to the previous four-game run on the road without losing (two wins) and their team’s 10-match streak of scoring on the road as indicators of a potential double over Sunday’s hosts.
With success over Auxerre possibly taking Digard’s men outside the relegation playoff spot, albeit contingent on Angers falling to Nantes, the Normandy visitors will be keen to secure their sixth away victory this term.
Team News
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Auxerre are without the injured Elisha Owusu, Gabriel Osho and Lasso Coulibaly due to knee complaints, while Hamed Traore and Kevin Danois have hamstring problems.
Without 10-goal Traore, the Burgundians will rely on Gaetan Perrin to carry the can for the hosts, aiming to add to his nine Ligue 1 strikes this term.
Having also scored four match-opening goals — the same as Traore — Perrin will hope to be decisive for the 10th-placed hosts.
Le Havre also enter Sunday’s game with several injured players, as highlighted by the expected absences of Andy Logbo, Arouna Sangante, Ilyes Housni and Yanis Zouaoui.
Abdoulaye Toure heads into this weekend with eight top-flight strikes, accounting for 23.5% of the away side’s 34 goals, and the forward could edge closer to hitting double figures in gameweek 32.
Auxerre possible starting lineup:
Leon; Hoever, Diomande, Jubal, Akpa, Mensah; Perrin, Massengo, Diousse, Onaiwu; Sinayoko
Le Havre possible starting lineup:
Gorgelin; Nego, Youte, Lloris, Ballo-Toure; Toure, Mwanga; Casimir, Kechta, Soumare; Koka
We say: Auxerre 1-1 Le Havre
Having scored in 10 consecutive away games in Ligue 1 heading into Sunday’s contest, Le Havre are expected to score for an 11th game running on the road.
However, AJA are expected to respond in kind against the visitors, thereby securing a score draw and avoiding consecutive losses to the Dean Club this term.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
