Saints continue their pre-season campaign with a visit to French outfit AS Saint–Étienne on Saturday.
The third of Southampton’s friendlies, after St Gallen and Brentford, will take place at the state of the art Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, home to Les Verts.
ASSE were established in 1919 and are arguably the most successful team in France’s domestic leagues, with ten top flight triumphs, six Coupe de France trophies and a Coupe de la Ligue title to their name.
The team are, funnily enough, nicknamed Sainté, which translates directly to ‘Saints’.
The French side play their home games at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, a 42,000-seater stadium sometimes labelled ‘The Green Hell’ – in reference to the team that play inside. After undergoing renovation, the ground was used as a venue for the 2016 European Championships last summer.
In the campaign just gone, ASSE finished 8th in Ligue 1 and made it to the round of 32 in the Europa League – before losing to the eventual winners Manchester United.
Identifying a danger man is slightly challenging, with a range of exciting players, but I would say Romain Hamouma, who scored eight and assisted 11 last term, poses the greatest threat.
The Frenchman, who plays as a right-sided midfielder, featured prominently in the club’s various campaigns and is undoubtedly considered a key man.
Étienne, too, are under new management this summer, after the appointment of Spanish coach Óscar García in mid-June.
It’ll be an interesting affair when both sides meet, with both Garcia and Mauricio Pellegrino hoping to develop and refine their systems with a new squad.
