Two sides enduring contrasting starts to the new Ligue 1 season will lock horns on Sunday afternoon as Dijon welcome Montpellier HSC to the Stade Gaston-Gerard.
Montpellier have amassed nine points from a possible 12 thus far, whereas Dijon are the only side yet to get off the mark in the 2020-21 campaign.
Match preview
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It is still far too early to be placing bets on potential top four and relegation candidates, but Dijon's form is certainly that of a side looking likely to be dragged into a relegation dogfight.
Indeed, Stephane Jobard's men are the only team in the French top flight without a point on the board after four matches, and the salt was well and truly rubbed into the wounds as fellow strugglers Strasbourg came out on top in a bottom-of-the-table clash in gameweek four.
Strasbourg captain Stefan Mitrovic headed home 10 minutes from time to condemn Dijon to their fourth defeat on the bounce, and Jobard's side can only boast a solitary goal from their opening quartet of matches.
Dijon must find a way to turn their fortunes around lest they risk occupying a spot in the relegation zone come Christmas, and their five-year stay in Ligue 1 will be in peril if Les Hiboux do not start picking up wins heading into the winter months.
Should Dijon pull off an unlikely victory this weekend, they could lift themselves off the foot of the table depending on results elsewhere, with 19th-placed Reims facing off against champions Paris Saint-Germain later on Sunday.
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In contrast, Montpellier have stormed to the Champions League places and became the first side to hit the 10-goal mark for the season with a 4-1 triumph over Angers last Sunday.
Andy Delort got off the mark for the new campaign with a brace in the victory against Angers, with Florent Mollet and Arnaud Souquet completing the scoring for Michel Der Zakarian's men on the day.
Montpellier now occupy a spot in the top three heading into gameweek five, and should current pacesetters Saint-Etienne and Rennes play out a draw in a top-of-the-table clash on Saturday, Montpellier will go top of the pile with a win against Dijon.
However, all three of Montpellier's victories in the new season have come on home soil - their only away match of the 2020-21 campaign thus far ended in a 2-1 defeat to Rennes on the opening day.
Nevertheless, Montpellier managed to register a 2-1 win over Dijon when the sides last met, which was the first time that La Paillade had prevailed against their opponents since 2011.
Dijon Ligue 1 form: LLLL
Montpellier HSC Ligue 1 form: LWWW
Team News
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Dijon will welcome Roger Assale back to the fold after the striker was forced to sit out the defeat to Strasbourg owing to a suspension.
Assale's return gives Jobard some food for thought up top, but Aurelien Scheidler, who scored Dijon's only goal of the campaign so far against Lyon, will be expected to keep his place here.
Romain Amalfitano and Pape Cheikh both missed out the loss to Strasbourg and are doubts for this one as well.
As for Montpellier, Hilton was handed a two-match ban for his sending-off against Lyon, although one of those is suspended, so the 43-year-old could come back here.
Otherwise, Der Zakarian is expected to stick with the same lineup that trounced Angers last weekend, although Mollet will be holding out for a recall following his goal in the 4-1 drubbing.
Dijon possible starting lineup:
Gomis; Chafik, Manga, Panzo, Chala; Ndong, Marie, Cheikh; Ebimbe, Scheidler, Chouair
Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:
Omlin; Mendes, Congre, Hilton; Souquet, Ferri, Le Tallec, Ristic; Savanier; Delort, Laborde
We say: Dijon 0-3 Montpellier HSC
Given the respective form of the two sides at the start of the new campaign, we can only see one clear winner in this one. Montpellier are scoring for fun while Dijon have become early candidates for the drop, so Der Zakarian's men should pick up all three points with no trouble at all on Sunday.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Away Win:curlData Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Montpellier HSC win with a probability of 44.9%. A win for Dijon had a probability of 28.1% and a draw had a probability of 27%.
The most likely scoreline for a Montpellier HSC win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.3%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.83%) and 0-2 (8.52%). The likeliest Dijon win was 1-0 (9.2%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.74%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 4.6% likelihood.
