St. Etienne and Nice meet in a Ligue 1 playoff first leg with first-leg advantage at stake. St. Etienne advanced past Rodez via a penalty shootout and enters the match after a 5-0 win over Amiens. The hosts have been strong at home, winning seven of their last eight home meetings since late January. Their injury list includes Nadir El Jamali, Florian Tardieu, and Chico Lamba, while Augustine Boakye could return after suspension. Julien Le Cardinal is set to start in defense, and Zuriko Davitashvili is expected to lead the scoring threat. Nice arrive under pressure after a difficult season and a 3-1 Coupe de France defeat to Lens.
"St. Etienne might have suffered public play-off heartbreak last season, Philippe Montainer's side are desperate to go one-step further this time around. Dragging themselves past Rodez last week as they secured a nail-biting penalty shootout victory, the Greens will know the importance of claiming a first-leg advantage when they return to the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Tuesday night. Signing off their regular-season adventure with a sensational performance as they stormed their way to a 5-0 romp against Amiens on May 9th, St. Etienne will be dreaming of a repeat display here."
"Dealing with what has become a stacked injury list, St. Etienne will once again be unable to call upon the likes of Nadir El Jamali, Florian Tardieu and Portuguese defender Chico Lamba here. However, missing out against Rodez last week after serving a one-match suspension, Augustine Boakye could be handed a full recall. Returning from his own respective muscle issue earlier in the month, Julien Le Cardinal will start at the heart of St. Etienne's defence."
"Claiming 14 Ligue 2 strikes this season, Georgian international Zuriko Davitashvili will shoulder plenty of Les Verts' goalscoring threat. As for the visitors, enduring what has been a record-breaking rut this season, Nice have rightfully come under a huge amount of public scrutiny. Last seen suffering Coupe de France heartbreak at the hands of Lens as they fell to a 3-1 loss in the capital,"
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