Saint Etienne is making an extremely strong season and qualifying for the Champions League will be well deserved for this team. The team even managed to achieve victory over the multimillion selection of PSG as a guest. Overall Saint Etienne has only 2 losses in its matches as a guest this season and in this game it is very likely that these statistics will be preserved.
Valenciennes is in rather poor form, as in their last 6 games the team has no win. The team occupies the comfortable 13th position in the standings with 6 points above the relegation zone, but if Valenciennes continues with the poor results, it is quite possible that they will also be involved in the battle to stay in the league. For this meeting Valenciennes has quite serious problems with injured players as their number is 9. This also tilts the balance in favor of the visiting team.
The biggest problem for Saint Etienne is associated with the suspension of one of their main strikers - Brandao, who has scored 10 goals this season. Saint Etienne is still unbeaten in 2013 as the team advances confidently to participation in the Champions League. It is quite unlikely that Valenciennes will be the first team to beat Saint Etienne this year.