The Lancers have won only one of their last seven home games in the top flight, while the visitors have claimed all three points in only one of their last five matches on the road.

Match preview

Clermont players pictured in September 2021 © Reuters

Clermont followed up their 1-0 league victory away against Angers with a comfortable 4-0 win at seventh division outfit JS Chemin Bas d'Avignon in the third round of the Coupe de France last weekend.

Two penalties converted either side of half time by Jordan Tell as well as strikes from Saif Eddine-Khaoui and Jonathan Iglesias helped the visitors book their place in the round of 32 for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

Pascal Gastien's side now turn their attention to Wednesday's Ligue 1 clash against a Strasbourg side who they have not locked horns with since February 2017, when they won 2-0 away from home.

The Lancers who are experiencing their first ever season in the top flight, could move up to 15th place in the table and five points clear of the relegation zone if they secure all three points in midweek.

Strasbourg's Habib Diallo celebrates with teammates on December 5, 2021 © Reuters

For the fifth time in the last six seasons, Strasbourg have progressed from the third round of the Coupe de France after beating Ligue 2 side Valenciennes 1-0 away from home last weekend.

Habib Diallo's 15th-minute strike was enough to set up a fourth round tie with Montpellier, who eliminated them from the competition last season.

Julien Stephan's side head into Wednesday's Ligue 1 fixture with Clermont having lost only one of their last eight matches across all competitions, a 2-0 home defeat against Marseille in their most recent league game.

Since their promotion to the top flight in 2017-18, Les Bleu et Blanc have lost a total of nine games against promoted teams, more than any other side in this period.

Strasbourg currently sit seventh in the table, but could climb up two places and into the European positions if they can claim their eighth league victory of the season in midweek.

Clermont Ligue 1 form:

Clermont form (all competitions):

Strasbourg Ligue 1 form:

Strasbourg form (all competitions):

Team News

Strasbourg players celebrate after the match against Nice on December 5, 2021 © Reuters

Clermont are having to cope without several players due to injury, including Jason Berthomier, Pierre-Yves Hamel and Cedric Hountondji who are all suffering with groin problems.

Jim Allevinah (foot), Jean-Claude Billong (ankle), Josue Albert (calf) and Oriol Busquets (calf) are also recovering in the treatment room.

Striker Mohamed Bayo, who is the joint-second highest scorer in Ligue 1 with nine strikes to his name, is expected to lead the line and will likely be supported in attack by creative trio Jodel Dossou, Iglesias and Elbasan Rashani.

As for Strasbourg, they will be without centre-back Maxime Le Marchand and forward Lebo Mothiba, who are suffering with respective back and knee injuries.

Stephan named a relatively strong side for their weekend victory in the cup, though the likes of Matz Sels, Lucas Perrin and Ludovic Ajorque are expected to return to the first XI on Wednesday.

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde could be handed a start in centre-midfield alongside Adrien Thomasson and Ibrahima Sissoko, while Diallo is set to keep his place in attack.

Clermont possible starting lineup:
Djoco; Zedadka, Ogier, Magnin, N'Simba; Gastien, Samed; Rashani, Iglesias, Dossou; Bayo

Strasbourg possible starting lineup:
Sels; Guilbert, Djiku, Nyamsi, Perrin, Caci; Sissoko, Bellegarde, Thomasson; Ajorque, Diallo

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We say: Clermont 1-2 Strasbourg

With nine points and 11 places separating these two sides heading into Wednesday's clash, Strasbourg are seemingly the strong favourites to come away with a victory.

Clermont are sure to put up a fight, though the visitors should do just enough to claim all three points at the Stade Gabriel Montpied.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

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 Clermont win with a probability of 39.44%. A win for Strasbourg had a probability of 33.39% and a draw had a probability of 27.2%.

The most likely scoreline for a Clermont win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.02%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.34%) and 2-0 (7.14%). The likeliest Strasbourg win was 0-1 (9.95%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.88%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 5.8% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Strasbourg would win this match.