Two sides fighting around the middle of the Ligue 1 table will square off on Sunday, as Clermont entertain Troyes.
A defeat last time out saw the visitors drop to 13th spot with seven points from their seven outings, while their opponents are three points better off following a victory and a draw in their last two games.
Match preview
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After narrowly surviving relegation to Ligue 2 last season, Clermont set out for a more secure campaign in their second term in France's top flight this time around, and they have made a positive start, collecting 10 points from the opening seven outings.
Pascal Gastien's side faced an unenviable start at home to Paris Saint-Germain and were thrashed 5-0 but quickly managed to bounce back and put their first points on the board with a 4-2 win away at Reims, thanks to a Komnen Andric brace and goals from Muhammed Cham and Jeremie Bela.
They built on that with an impressive 1-0 victory at home to Nice, with Saif-Eddine Khaoui's sixth-minute goal making the difference, but would fall short in encounters with Lorient and Marseille to sit on six points from five outings.
As has been characteristic of their season thus far, the inconsistency in their results continued when Gastien's side returned to winning ways at home to Toulouse, as Maxime Gonalons got on the scoresheet alongside Cham, and they now head into the weekend on the back of a stalemate away at Strasbourg, as neither side managed to break the deadlock.
While they will now be keen to establish some consistency and grow an unbeaten run on the back of their latest two results, Les Lanciers should still be relatively pleased with their start, given they currently occupy a spot in the top half of Ligue 1, and they will look to take their tally to 13 points with a win on home turf.
They welcome a Troyes side who are vying to return to winning ways after a mixed run of their own, having only collected seven points from their seven matches thus far.
Bruno Irles's side had to endure a particularly slow start as they suffered three straight defeats at the beginning of the term, falling against Montpellier HSC, Toulouse and Lyon and conceding 10 goals in the process.
They were then able to turn their form around in impressive fashion, firstly beating Angers 3-1 on home turf before taking their tally to six points with a surprise 4-2 triumph away at Monaco thanks to goals from Florian Tardieu, Wilson Odobert, Mama Balde and Yoann Salmier.
Troyes then fought hard to stretch their unbeaten run to three games, as they played out a 1-1 draw at home to Rennes while being disadvantaged for an hour following Salmier's first-half red card, before falling just short away at Lens with Kevin Danso's goal making the only difference in a 1-0 triumph.
Having seen their positive run of form put to an end last time out, Troyes will be keen to make a return to winning ways on their travels and avoid slipping back down to the bottom end of the division.
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Team News
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Clermont will welcome important midfielder Maxime Gonalons back to contention at the weekend after he served a suspension last time out, and he should come straight back into the engine room alongside Johan Gastien.
While they are yet to shine in attack with just eight league goals as a team, Muhammed Cham should again play an important role alongside Komnen Andric, with the pair having hit five of those between them, while Saif-Eddine Khaoui is pushing to come into the other place in the front three.
Elsewhere, Mateusz Wieteska, Alidu Seidu and Maximiliano Caufriez should again line up in a back three after seeing out a clean sheet away at Strasbourg.
Troyes have an important player of their own returning, as Yoann Salmier could come back into the defence, having served his suspension last time out after being sent off against Rennes.
Ike Ugbo could again lead the line, having hit his first goal for the club following a summer arrival from Genk in the draw with Rennes, while Mama Balde is another attacking threat with three goals and two assists to his name in Ligue 1 so far this term.
They should also line up with a back three, and Jackson Porozo should keep his place with Salmier, Erik Palmer-Brown and French veteran Adil Rami fighting for the other two spots.
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Diaw; Wieteska, Seidu, Caufriez; Bela, Gonalons, Gastien, Borges; Cham, Andric, Khaoui
Troyes possible starting lineup:
Gallon; T Balde, Porozo, Salmier, Palmer-Brown, Larouci; Lopes, Kouame, Tardieu, M Balde; Ugbo
We say: Clermont 1-0 Troyes
Given the hosts' record at both ends of the pitch, we anticipate a low-scoring encounter on Sunday which could be decided by a singular goal.
With a degree of confidence following their last two results, Clermont should have enough to find that goal, and we back them to see out a narrow victory on home turf.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
