Football Bet of the Day: St Etienne to keep Great Danes quiet

Lille v St Etienne
Friday 19:45

This morning's trip to Australia was a success, but Melbourne Victory 3 Brisbane Roar 2 doesn't tell the full story. Our boys, er, roared into a 3-0 lead before the half-hour mark, before conceding twice before half-time and having a man sent off just after it. All of which left us much closer to the knife edge than we'd have liked to be.

This afternoon takes us to France, where tonight's single Ligue 1 match pits Lille at home to St Etienne. Having scored just 18 times in their first 19 games of the current campaign, Frederic Antonetti's hosts are down in 12th. Christopher Galtier's visitors have exactly the same scoring record, but a firmer defence has them up in 8th.

We fancy the attacks to be muted again tonight, and that it could take a while for either defence to be broken down. Since the middle of last term, 14 of St Etienne's last 21 road games have been all square at half time. That fine record makes tonight's odds-against price on a half-time stalemate look generous.

Under Antonetti, the Great Danes have been level at the break in exactly half of their 22 appearances at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. On this auspiciously unlucky date, that's enough to make the Half Time Draw our bet of the day.

Recommended Bet
Back Half Time Draw @ 2.0621/20 in Lille v St Etienne