Strasbourg will look to climb back into the top five of the Ligue 1 table on Saturday, when they host Clermont.
The home side recently dropped out of the final European place and have just two games left to bridge a two-point gap, while the visitors now sit five points clear of the relegation zone thanks to a crucial win last time out.
Match preview
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Following a 15th-placed finish last time around, Strasbourg have been one of Ligue 1's surprise packages this season, as they have enjoyed an eye-catching campaign and continuously found themselves in the race for a top-four finish.
They held onto fourth spot until very recently, briefly keeping Rennes at bay with a 2-1 home win, before dropping back below Les Rennais following a defeat to Lille.
They have bounced back from that setback in impressive fashion, firstly coming from 3-1 down to hold already-crowned champions Paris Saint-Germain to a 3-3 draw, thanks to Anthony Caci's 92nd-minute equaliser, before making a return to winning ways at the weekend.
Julien Stephan's men travelled to take on an in-form Brest side on Saturday, and Kevin Gameiro's 72nd-minute goal made the only difference as they left with all three points to keep pressure on Rennes.
Now sitting sixth, two points off the fifth-placed side, Le Racing's European hopes are heavily reliant on them finishing the season with two more wins and hoping Rennes slip up.
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They meet a side who have hugely improved their chances of survival recently, albeit with the visitors still having some work to do.
With 29 points from 32 Ligue 1 outings following their promotion from France's second tier, Clermont looked in real danger of an immediate relegation back down, but they have turned their fortunes around in the last month.
After a seven-game spell without a victory, including five straight defeats, Pascal Gastien's side made a crucial return to winning ways in April, defeating Troyes 1-0 away from home before they added another important point to their tally with a draw against Angers.
Les Lanciers then suffered a defeat to Brest, leaving them just two points above the relegation playoff place, but they were able to post another vital three-point haul last time out, picking up a 2-1 win at home to Montpellier thanks to goals from Elbasan Rashani and Mohamed Bayo.
That win, combined with the teams below them struggling at the weekend, has put Gastien's men five points clear of the bottom three with just two games remaining, meaning a win on Saturday or a failure from Saint-Etienne to do so would confirm their survival this season.
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Team News
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Strasbourg will be almost back to full strength for the weekend, as Frederic Guilbert and Alexander Djiku are set to come back after suspensions.
The former is expected to slot back in on the left-hand side, while Djiku will have to fight for his place following the return of centre-back Maxime le Marchand from an injury.
There is competition for places in attack, with Ludovic Ajorque having scored 12 Ligue 1 goals so far this campaign and Kevin Gameiro and Habib Diallo each netting 11.
Clermont would ideally be unchanged from their important win over Montpellier last time out, with Jason Berthomier and Cedric Hountondji unlikely to return from injuries in time to feature.
Mohamed Bayo will continue to lead the line after taking his tally to 13 league goals for the season with the winner in that game.
Elbasan Rashani was taken off injured after 10 minutes against Montpellier and could cede his spot to Lucas Da Cunha, with Jodel Dossou set to complete the front three.
Strasbourg possible starting lineup:
Sels; Le Marchand, Nyamsi, Caci; Fila, Thomasson, Prcic, Bellegarde, Guilbert; Gameiro, Ajorque
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Djoco; Zedadka, Seidu, Ogier, N'Simba; Samed, Gastien, Magnin; Dossou, Bayo, Da Cunha
We say: Strasbourg 2-1 Clermont
With their survival all but confirmed, Clermont may not be fighting for their lives in the same way they were against Montpellier, and, as a result, they may be just outclassed on Saturday.
Knowing they almost certainly need two wins to stand a chance of a top-five finish, Strasbourg should have what it takes to get over the line.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Strasbourg win with a probability of 55.4%. A draw had a probability of 22.8% and a win for Clermont had a probability of 21.81%.
The most likely scoreline for a Strasbourg win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.08%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.87%) and 2-0 (9.26%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.74%), while for a Clermont win it was 0-1 (5.85%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 10.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Strasbourg in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Strasbourg.
Top tip
Sam Varley
