🏏 Sat, 19 Sep 2026 20:45 CEST
Toulouse FC
vs
Le Havre AC
4-4-2 vs 3-4-2-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Sixteenth plays 17th, and both are on two points. Le Havre and Toulouse have each taken 0-2-2 from their opening four games, and remarkably their form lines are identical: L-D-L-D. With Nice also on two points in 18th, this is an early six-pointer at the bottom of a table led by Monaco on 13 points from five matches.
- Toulouse's problem so far is home form. They lost 2-0 to Lyon and 1-0 to Lille at home without scoring in either game, yet away from home they have taken points in both trips, drawing 2-2 at Brest and 2-2 at Lorient. Four goals scored and seven conceded tells the story of a side that has been more comfortable on the road.
- Le Havre have managed just two goals in four matches. They lost 1-0 at home to Monaco on the opening weekend, went down 2-1 to Brest in front of their own fans and then drew 0-0 with Angers. Their best result was a 1-1 draw away at Lyon, the same Lyon side that beat Toulouse 2-0 in Toulouse.
- Japan international Ayumu Seko lines up in the middle of Le Havre's back three. The 26-year-old, a Cerezo Osaka academy graduate who arrived via Grasshopper, is valued for his versatility: a natural centre-back who can also operate in midfield, with 185cm of presence in duels and the range to hit long passes off either foot.
- Le Havre also carry two more Japanese players on the bench. Sota Nakamura, 23, swept the Kanto League scoring, assist and MVP awards while at Meiji University before a spell at Sanfrecce Hiroshima; at 168cm he relies on movement off the ball and relentless pressing. Kaito Mizuta, 26, is a 182cm midfielder who worked his way up through the German lower leagues with Arminia Bielefeld and Rot-Weiss Essen.
- Tactically this is Toulouse's 4-4-2 against Le Havre's 3-4-2-1. Venezuela international Cristian Cásseres, who spent six seasons with the New York Red Bulls, partners 20-year-old Dane Thomas Jørgensen in central midfield, with 18-year-old Ilyas Aziz on the left and Canada's Niko Sigur, capped 19 times with two goals, on the right. Le Havre offer physical contrast through 197cm Michael Richardson and, on the flank, 170cm Denmark full-back Elias Jelert, a Champions League performer for Copenhagen and Galatasaray.
- Toulouse's strike pairing arrives from very different routes. Kasper Tengstedt scored 15 goals in 14 games for Rosenborg before joining Benfica, with later stops at Hellas Verona and Feyenoord. Alongside him is Jayden Russell-Rowe, the Canada forward who won both the MLS NEXT Pro golden boot and MVP award at Columbus Crew and signed in February 2026. They face a tall Le Havre rearguard in 35-year-old Vincent Sasso (190cm) and 190cm A. Touba.
- Le Havre mix experience and youth up front. Josh Maja, the 27-year-old Nigeria international, scored twice on his Premier League debut for Fulham and once registered 16 goals and six assists in 38 games for Bordeaux. Behind him sit Mbwana Samatta, 33, Tanzania's captain and a former top scorer in Belgium with Genk, and 20-year-old Rayan Fofana, a physical forward with five Ligue 1 goals on his record. Toulouse counter with 19-year-old Seny Koumbassa alongside USA international Mark McKenzie, 27.
- There is intrigue between the posts and on the bench. Toulouse's Guillaume Restes is a 21-year-old 188cm homegrown keeper who has been at the club since the age of six and is left-footed and comfortable in possession. Their substitutes include Argentine forward Santiago Hidalgo, 21, and two-footed midfielder Alexis Vossah, 18, who made his Ligue 1 debut at 17, while Le Havre can turn to Belgian goalkeeper Arnaud Bodart, a veteran of 188 appearances for Standard Liège.