2024/25				Overall									Home						Away
				P	W	D	L	F	A	Gdf	Pts	Form	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
	1		Lorient	19	11	4	4	31	17	+14	37	WOLW	9	8	1	0	22	6	10	3	3	4	9	11
	2		Metz	19	9	7	3	27	14	+13	34	WOOO	10	6	4	0	19	6	9	3	3	3	8	8
	3		Paris FC	19	10	4	5	27	18	+9	34	LWLL	9	5	2	2	14	10	10	5	2	3	13	8
	4		Annecy	19	9	6	4	27	23	+4	33	WLWO	9	6	1	2	14	8	10	3	5	2	13	15
	5		Dunkerque	19	10	3	6	28	24	+4	33	LXXW	10	8	0	2	17	9	9	2	3	4	11	15
	6		Guingamp	19	10	2	7	34	24	+10	32	WWXL	10	6	2	2	23	9	9	4	0	5	11	15
	7		Laval	19	8	6	5	29	19	+10	30	XXWW	9	4	3	2	14	10	10	4	3	3	15	9
	8		Pau	19	7	6	6	22	21	+1	27	WXOW	9	5	3	1	12	5	10	2	3	5	10	16
	9		Grenoble	19	8	3	8	23	22	+1	27	WWWL	10	6	2	2	15	8	9	2	1	6	8	14
	10		Amiens	19	8	2	9	21	25	-4	26	WLLL	10	6	2	2	13	9	9	2	0	7	8	16
	11		Bastia	19	5	10	4	22	18	+4	25	LWLW	9	4	5	0	14	6	10	1	5	4	8	12
	12		Clermont	19	6	6	7	17	20	-3	24	XWWX	10	2	5	3	12	11	9	4	1	4	5	9
	13		Rodez	19	6	5	8	31	32	-1	23	LWLX	9	4	1	4	16	16	10	2	4	4	15	16
	14		Red Star	19	6	4	9	20	32	-12	22	LXWW	9	3	2	4	9	15	10	3	2	5	11	17
	15		Troyes	19	6	3	10	19	22	-3	21	LLWW	9	3	2	4	9	9	10	3	1	6	10	13
	16		AC Ajaccio	19	5	3	11	13	24	-11	18	WLLL	10	5	2	3	11	8	9	0	1	8	2	16
	17		Caen	19	4	3	12	19	28	-9	15	LLLL	10	3	2	5	10	12	9	1	1	7	9	16
	18		Martigues	19	3	3	13	10	37	-27	12	LLWL	10	0	1	9	1	18	9	3	2	4	9	19

 

Since their return to Ligue 2 in 2019 Guingamp have finished 8-9-6-6-9, close but no cigar and not even a playoff spot when those were up for grabs. That is pretty hard to do when you have booked a top half finish each season and they will want to avoid that nearly men accusation yet again in their first season under head coach Sylvain Ripoll.  He had formerly been in charge of the French U21 team for six years and was one of five coaches interviewed in a long selection process by Guingamp, all of whom had Ligue 2 experience, which Ripoll lacked. His team have been a bit up and down as you can see by their 10-2-7 record, but they have won 4 of their last 6 starts, the last two by a combined 7-1 and against solid and in form opponents in Annecy (4th) and Rodez (much better than their league position). They are up to 6th and only two points off second place and this is clearly their best chance, or the best position they have put themselves in since relegation. I have been impressed by them lately and that goes double for LM/LW Hugo Picard who had three assists against Annecy (who were unbeaten in nine games either side of that defeat) where he was unplayable. He actually scored his only goal of the season in the reverse fixture with Caen, so might fancy another this evening.

 

Caen are having a annus horribilis, they have finished 7-5-6 in the last three season and with a new main owner in Kylian Mbappe, were expected to kick on and yet are now 7 points from safety and in freefall with just a single point from their last seven starts. They are 0-1-9 this season against teams in the top 9 (top half) scoring five goals total and that includes two defeats to Guingamp (one cup), the hat-trick is on the cards. Weather update: Winds will have dies down by kick off but heavy rain is predicted, so I have trimmed stakes slightly.