St. Etienne vs Nice prediction 26.05.2026 | Ligue 1

After only one season in Ligue 2, one of the most successful teams in French football history, St. Etienne, has an opportunity to return to the strongest domestic competition. Les Verts played well throughout the 2025/26 campaign, but they remained two points short of direct promotion. In the previous playoff round, St. Etienne had a lot of problems, but they eventually beat Rodez after the penalty shootout. Les Verts failed to translate their ball possession dominance into goals and will have to do much better in two games against Nice.

St. Etienne's boss, Philippe Montanier, is doing everything he can to ensure his players don't underestimate Nice. He said, "Thinking that their poor momentum will work in our favor is misguided speculation. Nice were struggling before the semifinal in Strasbourg and they won 2-0. They showed their quality in the Coupe de France matches since they reached the final. They have some outstanding players."

St. Etienne have big problems with missing players. They will be without Nadir El Jamali, Paul Eymard, Mahmoud Jaber, Chico Lamba, Martin-Chris Paalberg, Florian Tardieu, and Lassana Traore. Also, Julien Le Cardinal and Luan Gadegbeku are questionable.

After more than twenty years, Nice could return to Ligue 2. They were one of the best teams in France in recent seasons, but Nice made a huge step back in the current campaign. They finished 16th in the top flight and now have a hard task ahead of them: beating St. Etienne in two matches. The last two months were tough for Nice as won only once in the previous ten games. In the most recent outing, Claude Puel's team lost 3-1 in the cup final against Lens.

Although Nice lost in the cup final, the head coach, Claude Puel, is still optimistic about the upcoming games against St. Etienne. He commented, "The dressing room is disappointed, which is understandable, because the players gave their all, both physically and mentally. Starting tomorrow, we'll focus on what's most important for us: the two matches against Saint-Étienne. We'll need to replicate tonight's performance against them, in every aspect, because we were effective both in our play and in the duels. In four days, we'll be ready for that level, and that will be great."

Mohamed Abdelmonem, Salis Abdul Samed, Moise Bombito, Tanguy Ndombele, and Everton Pereira are injured and will not travel to St. Etienne.