Lille v St Etienne 15/11/08 (21:00 cet)

The big news story of the week in Ligue 1 was the sacking of St Etienne coach Laurent Roussey.

A run of 5 consecutive defeats signalled the end of his reign, the 0-3 home loss against Rennes the absolute final straw for the club presidents. The board has acted quickly and found an immediate replacement - Alain Perrin.

This is an ironic move because last season he was in charge of arch rivals Lyon. It will be interesting to see how he fares, but personally I’ve never rated him very highly.

This weekend’s fixture is a tough start for him as well, away against high flying Lille. Les Dogues were disappointing last weekend when they lost 0-1 at PSG, this defeat ending a great run of 9 unbeaten matches.

Coach, Rudy Garcia is sure to demand that his team hits back as soon as possible, and they should be fully refreshed ahead of this encounter. New manager syndrome is often a factor which sparks life into some teams, but I’d be surprised if St Etienne managed to avoid defeat here at Le Stade Metropole.

Most things point to Lille prevailing, so I’ll side with the hosts.

Lille straight win @ 1.73 Bet365 - Click here to bet