🏏 Sat, 19 Sep 2026 20:45 CEST
Angers SCO
vs
Estac Troyes
4-4-2 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
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Match Preview
- Angers in 11th and Troyes in 12th arrive with identical records: four points from four games, one win, one draw and two defeats apiece. Only goal difference separates them, Angers on -1 against Troyes on -5. Both are already a long way behind leaders Monaco, who have 13 points from five matches, which makes this an early measuring stick for two sides looking over their shoulders.
- Angers have yet to win at home. They lost 0-2 to Lille on the opening day and 1-2 to Rennes in round three, meaning all four of their points have been collected on the road: a 3-1 win at Auxerre in round two and a goalless draw at Le Havre in round four. Four scored and five conceded in four games points to a tight, low-event team still hunting a first home victory.
- Troyes have conceded nine goals in four matches. The damage came mostly in one afternoon, a 2-6 collapse at home to Strasbourg in round three, followed by a 0-2 defeat at third-placed Lille (10 points) last time out. Yet they also held second-placed Paris FC (11 points) to a 0-0 draw at home on matchday one and won 2-1 at Lorient, a sign of how wide the swing between their good and bad days can be.
- Lille are the shared reference point. Angers lost 0-2 at home to them in round one, Troyes lost 0-2 away in round four — the same scoreline against the side currently third on 10 points. Both teams have scored just four goals in four matches, so whoever finds a way through first should control the rhythm of the evening.
- Angers' 4-4-2 is built around 188cm Dutchman Branco van den Boomen, 31, on loan from Ajax and a set-piece specialist who helped Toulouse win the Ligue 2 title. Alongside him is 24-year-old Yassine Belkhdim, a product of the Angers academy who leads the club for assists this season. Amine Sbai, 25, back in France after a spell at Al-Fateh, takes the left flank, while Gabon international Jim Allevinah, 31, who climbed from the eighth tier of French football via Clermont, works the right.
- Troyes line up 4-2-3-1 with 22-year-old Togo international Dermane Karim operating a line deeper than his natural attacking-midfield role. Raised at WAFA SC in Ghana, he has since passed through Feyenoord, Lommel SK, Kortrijk and Lorient, and his final ball is the side's best creative asset. His partner is 182cm Senegalese midfielder Mohamed Diop, 25, signed from Kocaelispor in Turkey. Their tug-of-war with van den Boomen will set the tempo.
- Height dominates both back lines. Angers pair 197cm Mali international Ousmane Camara, 23, formerly of Paris FC, with 33-year-old left-footed centre-back Jordan Lefort, whose career has taken in Amiens, Young Boys and Strasbourg. Troyes answer with 193cm Ivorian Michel Diaz, 23, developed at Nantes, and 35-year-old Adrien Monfray, a veteran of Grenoble and Laval. For two teams short of goals, set pieces look like the most realistic route to one.
- There are twelve years between the two goalkeepers. Angers field 35-year-old Portuguese Anthony Lopes, first choice at Lyon for roughly 12 seasons and part of the EURO 2016 winning squad, whose reflexes at close range remain his trademark after a spell at Nantes. Troyes trust 23-year-old Patrick Beach, who crossed from Melbourne City in Australia and now has the job of tightening a defence that has already shipped nine goals.
- One reunion stands out. Angers right-back Karlens Arcus, the 30-year-old Haiti international, previously played for Troyes and has also turned out for Lille, Auxerre, Vitesse and Cercle Brugge. Solid defensively and willing to push forward from the flank, he brings the deepest knowledge of the visitors in the home side's back four — and a personal edge to the battle down that side.
- The benches mix experience with youth. Angers can introduce 32-year-old Algeria international Haris Belkebla, who won promotion to Ligue 1 with Brest; 21-year-old Anthony Belmont, named Ligue 2 young player of the 2024-25 season while on loan at Annecy; and a 19-year-old Cameroonian winger in Djibilin. Troyes counter with 33-year-old Renaud Ripart, a long-serving figure at Nîmes, and 26-year-old Kande Diawara, who has played for APOEL in Cyprus and Magdeburg in Germany.