Sochaux v Saint Etienne — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Ligue 2 · Saturday, 8 August 2026. Final score 0–3 (half-time 0–3). Before kick-off we rated it 54% under 2.5 goals — the match finished with 3, so that call missed. That rating was frozen into a version-controlled ledger before the game and has not been touched since.

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Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals27%73%Under
Over 3.5 goals13%87%no pick
Both teams to score7%93%No

The result model puts Sochaux at 32%, the draw at 27% and Saint Etienne at 41%, from expected goals of 1.11 and 1.31.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Ligue 2 has produced over 2.5 goals in 0% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Sochaux have 0 in 0 this season, Saint Etienne 0 in 0. Those records are pulled toward the league rate with the weight of about 32 matches — enough that two or three unusual games cannot swing a rating — giving 0% and 0%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 0 and 0 games played this season, last season's rates are still blended in and fade out entirely by game 14 — the point at which our testing showed they stop adding accuracy. That moves the two figures to 0% and 59%.

The mix. Weighted 40% home side, 40% away side and 20% league — the split that beat every alternative across 30,582 matches of testing — that gives 24%.

Goal expectation. Separately a Poisson model built from attack and defence strength — using real expected-goals data where the league has it — puts this match at 44%, from expected goals of 1.11 for Sochaux and 1.31 for Saint Etienne. Folding in 30% of that view gives 30%.

Season opener. One of these sides has not played a league game yet. Openers run about 2.5 points under their league's norm, measured across 2,727 of them, so the rating is docked to 27%.

This breakdown is generated from the same inputs the rating uses, so it cannot describe a calculation we did not perform. The full model is set out in the methodology.

Season form

TeamGamesO2.5O3.5BTTS
Sochaux0
Saint Etienne0

Head to head

28 Jan 23Saint Etienne 2–3 SochauxO2.5
10 Oct 22Sochaux 2–1 Saint EtienneO2.5

Things worth knowing

More: Sochaux season stats · Saint Etienne season stats · Ligue 2 table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.