Strasbourg v Troyes Asian – Stade de la Meinau at 14:00 live at BT Sport
Strasbourg fell into the liquidation after a rotten few years in the amateur leagues but have enjoyed a rapid rise since. Back-to-back titles have brought Le Racing back into Ligue 1 for the first time since 2007/08 and Thierry Laurey’s keen to keep his troops here.
A 4-0 thrashing at Lyon wasn’t the ideal start to Strasbourg’s season back in August but having claimed only five triumphs on their travels last term, it wasn’t a huge surprise. Indeed, the hosts tend to produce their best work welcoming clubs to their Alsace-region base.
During their Ligue 2 run-in, Laurey’s men bagged 11 victories from 12 on home soil and 18 of their 27-point tally since promotion have been picked up at the vociferous Stade de la Meinau. The hosts have claimed four victories from their last seven here, including toppling runaway league leaders PSG.
Troyes away-day troubles
On Sunday afternoon, Strasbourg welcome Troyes to the Stade de la Meinau. The visitors failed to follow up their victory against Lille last weekend as they were edged out 1-0 at Toulouse, their seventh successive away defeat. It was their 10th reverse in 14 fixtures, plunging the guests to second-bottom.
The visitors will be without top goalscorer Hyun-Jun Suk for this encounter, as well as important defenders Christophe Herelle and Jimmy Giraudon but odds-on quotes for Strasbourg to pick up maximum points aren’t the most appealing considering the hosts have been beaten themselves in five of their last six.
Get with the goals
Instead, odds-against quotes of 2.18 look well worth supporting. Over the past 18 months, Le Racing have earned themselves a reputation for their entertaining football. Indeed, not only did Strasbourg finish as the second division’s top scorers, they also posted the worst defensive record in the top eight.
Fixtures involving the Alsace outfit were rarely dull and in their 21 games from December onwards, Strasbourg’s matches averaged a huge 3.40 goals-per-game with 9/21 (43%) even featuring four goals or more. In their most recent 10 Ligue 1 outings as hosts, seven have surpassed the Over 2.5 Goals line.
Travellers Troyes have also been prolific in the Over 2.5 Goals market, crossing the whitewash in seven of their most recent 11 games as guests. And with the visitors leaking at least three goals in four of their last six on the road – despite two of those encounters coming against bottom-six sides – goals should be on the agenda on Sunday.
Asian Handicap Recommendation: Over 2.50 Goals at 2.136
По @MarkOHaire
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Two Premier League matches included on our Asian handicap preview for Sunday. Read it here.
