Apart from Ajaccio and Bastia, whose derby was prematurely interrupted last Saturday, all Ligue 2 clubs have played 11 full matches and are tackling their 12th game this weekend! With once again a multiplex of six matches for this Friday of All Saints' Day, here are the stakes of the first matches of the J12 played on November 1, 2024.
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Clermont – Lorient, relegated on opposite dynamics
Even if this Tuesday's victory in Laval will have done a lot of good for the Clermontois (1-2), it is not insulting to say that the CF63 is disappointing at the start of the season in Ligue 2 and has not really shown enough positive things on the pitch to deserve to join the fight for the top 5. Twelfth with already eleven points behind their opponent from the 12th day Lorient (who had not had a much better season in Ligue 1 in 2023-2024, with a much larger budget than the Auvergnats), Clermont is suffering at the start of the season. This led to the ousting of Sébastien Bichard, who had been designated for more than six months as the successor to Pascal Gastien. A bit in a hurry, the decision-makers chose to appoint Laurent Batlles at the head of this team who has undeniable talent but who has still poorly exploited it at this stage. Will the new coach have time to impose his stamp on a group that needs a well-defined course? Will he be able to ride on the new momentum brought by Emmanuel Gas during his interim mission?
In any case, a good start at home for the coach will be essential to bring back supporters who were partly disillusioned by this false start. But the task will be anything but easy against FC Lorient who have been scoring on average more than three goals per match for over a month now. After adopting a rather defensive posture in August and September, the Merlus completely let loose and found a way to make opposing defenses crack much more regularly. Even if everything was not perfect, especially the end of the match in Rodez, the Morbihannais are undefeated since the defeat in Pau 10 against 11 and seem well on their way to being very serious competitors in the direct climb, chasing the Paris FC. That's all we expected of them. We will still have to see if the offensive armada at Olivier Pantaloni's disposal will manage to maintain this form even without Eli Junior Kroupi, injured in the thigh. But given the seriousness displayed by Soumano recently, we are not too worried about the Lorientais.
Paris FC and Rodez want to continue their series
Between the RAF, which is in four matches without losing in Ligue 2, and the PFC, which has had six matches without losing including five consecutive victories before a draw in Amiens this week, we have an opposition between two teams which have proved their hatred of defeat! Even if they were held by the best team in the championship at home (Amiens), the Parisians also knew how to avoid losing and would undoubtedly even have deserved better on Tuesday evening. Despite everything, confidence seems to be there and at present, it seems unlikely to see the capital club fall from the first two places, with its comfortable lead of 6 points over the third in Ligue 2. The team concedes few chances, dominates each of its opponents and even if no attacker is as prolific as Meïssa Ba or Sabaly, players like Krasso (5 goals, 1 assist) or Kebbal (4 goals, 1 decisive pass) pull an entire group seemingly very homogeneous upwards.
Admiring the work of Stéphane Gilli, Ruthenian coach Didier Santini was also able to reverse the trend with a team which started badly but which has been back on track for several weeks. The important victories against Grenoble and Martigues were followed by a draw against Lorient (snatched at the last minute) and a point brought back from Bastia, where it is always difficult to win. Thirteenth with eleven points gleaned, Rodez returned to a level at which he was expected and after which he had been chasing since August and the numerous departures from which the squad suffered during the summer transfer window. At the top of the rankings in terms of the number of chances created and goals scored, the RAF still has a watertightness problem to resolve, but this is also part of the club's DNA, particularly since the arrival of coach Santini there. two years ago. This is why we expect a rather interesting match with plenty of chances on both sides.
Dunkirk – Amiens, a top-of-the-table meeting between clubs from Hauts-de-France!
After coming up against the second in Ligue 2, Dunkirk (now down to 5th place) will face Amiens SC (4th) in a new clash between clubs who started the season well. The two Hauts-de-France entities relatively exceed the expectations placed on them at the start of the season, can allow themselves to dream of a bright future in a few months, and why not the Play-offs, if they manage to maintain this pace. However, the autumn period is often a pivotal moment and most of the time determines the future classification, with a few exceptions. We must therefore stay in this leading car as long as possible before launching a final sprint which promises to be intense between March and May.
Amiens – Omar Daf before the USLD: “The most important thing will be our ability to renew the performances we are currently doing”
Away, although the Amiens managed to win a match in Pau last week, they are however far from being the most impressive since August. Unfortunately for them, the USLD is on 5 victories and 1 defeat at Tribut and will want to extend this very good start at home to maintain its hopes of top of the table. Stung by Lorient (4-2) despite a very good start to the match, the Maritimes will be keen to fight back against an opposition which was able to hold Paris FC in check a few days earlier. We might as well tell you that even if the two opponents this Friday evening are not quite at the level of the PFC and the FCL (1st and 2nd in Ligue 2), they are really not very far away.
Martigues and the Red Star, a duel that smacks of the National
After opening its doors to the Martigues-Rodez match and even to Martigues-Caen no later than Tuesday, the Stade Jean-Laville in Gueugnon will this time welcome the Red Star and the Martégaux for the occasion of the 12th day of League 2. Two teams which respectively finished in 1st and 2nd place last season in National, and which are fighting this season not to return there. One of the two is off to a better start: it is the Saint-Ouen club which has eleven points, three units ahead of its direct competitor from Bouches-du-Rhône but all the cards could be reshuffled in the event of success of the Blood and Gold on the Red Star club this Friday evening.
Successes, even if they are few in number, the Martégaux are capable of obtaining them, as very recently on the lawn of Clermont, or as in Annecy at the start of the year. But never this season, in a match considered to be “at home” for Thierry Laurey’s men, have they won. The curse continued after the arrival in Burgundy and the departure from the Stade Vélodrome, and it will be necessary to put an end to it quickly so as not to see the chances of remaining lost too significantly before returning to Turcan. One thing is certain: neither of the two defenses which face each other on behalf of the 12th day are reassuring, with already 44 goals conceded in total by the two teams which occupy the last two places in the ranking in terms of goals conceded. At least we shouldn't be bored…
The other matches of Friday 01/11
Elsewhere, we will be treated to a match between teams who may have the ambition to keep pace with the top 5, FC Annecy and the Pau FC. Even if, for the moment, the Haut-Savoyards are off to a better start and on a better dynamic than the Béarnais, we have here two well-defined styles of play from Messrs. Guyot and Usaï who promise a breathless spectacle after this intense week. Advantage to the locals who remain on a good overall dynamic and who undoubtedly should have won in Grenoble, while Pau – who played one more match recently – seems a little out of breath and has just taken a beating at ESTAC (3-0). Not enough to encourage optimism, but every negative streak has an end. And Annecy has already underperformed at the Parc des Sports in J2.
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Finally, Troyes and Laval will meet for a new match at the Stade de l'Aube. Far from being out of the woods, the Grand Est club is on the road to remission and has even just won two games in a row, including a very successful second half on Tuesday evening despite the two missed penalties (!) , which could have made the score 5-0. For its part, the tango club has just experienced two disappointments and two defeats against Annecy and against Clermont, while having had a little luck in its last success on its lawn against Dunkirk. Again, we will give an advantage to the home team, but the differences in quality between the two teams are minimal.
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