Preview: Le Havre vs Angers - prediction, team news, lineups

Le Havre welcome Angers SCO II to the Stade Oceane on Saturday evening for round four of the 2026-27 Ligue 1 campaign.

In their latest league outing, Le Club Doyen fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to Brest, while Les Noirs et Blancs lost by the same scoreline against Stade Rennais at the Stade Raymond-Kopa.

Match preview

Having narrowly avoided the drop last season, finishing just three points above Nice who occupied the relegation playoff place, it looks likely that Le Havre are going to be fighting towards the foot of the table once again in the 2026-27 campaign.

Following their 1-0 defeat against table toppers AS Monaco on the opening weekend, Didier Digard’s men looked to have steadied the ship with a respectable score draw away to Olympique Lyonnais, but after losing 2-1 to Brest at the Stade Oceane on Saturday evening, Le Havre’s league campaign is starting to look bleak.

Earning one point from their first three league outings, Le Club Doyen are currently sat a lowly 16th in Ligue 1 table, though with crucial fixtures against each of the two sides below them within the next month, they will certainly be looking to climb away from trouble in the near future.

For Le Havre, the ideal start to that upcoming schedule would be a victory against Angers this Saturday and having failed to lose any of their previous four matches against Les Noir et Blancs, including a 2-1 victory when these sides last met at the Stade Oceane, the hosts will be confident they can do just that.

Although they experienced a very similar 2025-26 Ligue 1 campaign to their opponents, finishing just one point better off than Le Club Doyen in the league standings, Angers will be slightly more content with their start to the latest season.

After also losing their first match of the campaign to one of the division’s top teams, falling to a 2-0 defeat against LOSC Lille at the Stade Raymond-Kopa, Stephane Gilli’s side bounced back impressively by claiming their first triumph at the Stade l’Abbe-Deschamps for over a decade, posting a 3-1 victory away to Auxerre.

However, having followed up that result with another home defeat last weekend, losing 2-1 against Rennes, Le SCO are back dwindling in the bottom half of the league table and with some testing upcoming fixtures, the visitors will be wanting to avoid slipping further when they meet Le Havre on Saturday evening.

Although they are winless in each of their previous four meetings with Le Club Doyen, Angers have only lost two of their latest eight against Saturday’s opponents and claimed a 1-0 victory when these sides met at the Stade Oceane in December 2024.

Le Havre Ligue 1 form:

Angers Ligue 1 form:

Team News

Le Havre are dealing with a somewhat depleted squad, including goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi-Nzau and forward Felix Mambimbi who are both sidelined with Achilles tendon injuries.

French defender Stephan Zagadou continues to be out with a cruciate ligament issue sustained in April, while Abdoulaye Toure remains unavailable due to a knee problem.

Having been issued a straight red card just before the break in Saturday’s loss to Brest, 23-year-old midfielder Junior Mwanga will serve a suspension and is therefore ruled out of this weekend’s clash.

On the other hand, Angers are enjoying a relatively short injury list having not experienced any new issues within the squad so far this season.

After suffering a thigh problem in pre-season, Algerian midfielder Haris Belkebla underwent surgery in July and as a result will be out for at least another week.

Returning to full first team training following surgery on his left meniscus in May, 24-year-old Frenchman Louis Mouton is nearing a return to the matchday squad, though it is unlikely to happen on Saturday.

Le Havre possible starting lineup:

Gallon; Seko, Sasso, Touba; Jelert, Ebonog, Richardson, Pembele; Ndiaye, Samatta; Maja

Angers possible starting lineup:

Lopes; Arcus, Camara, Lefort, Kalulu; Belkhdim, van den Boomen; Allevinah, Sbai, Bermont; El Ouazzani

We say: Le Havre 2-0 Angers

With it currently looking likely that both sides will be fighting the drop in the latter stages of the campaign, Saturday's contest could prove to be monumental come May, even if only three matches have been played this season.

Although the visitors head into the clash having experienced a slightly better start to the campaign, we are backing Le Havre to claim their first win of the season this weekend ahead of a crucial run of fixtures.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.