Le Havre vs Angers – News and Probable Lineups

On Saturday evening, Le Havre will host Angers SCO II at the Stade Oceane in the fourth round of the 2026-27 Ligue 1 season.

In their recent league match, Le Club Doyen suffered a 2-1 loss at home to Brest, while Les Noirs et Blancs experienced a similar defeat against Stade Rennais at the Stade Raymond-Kopa.

Match overview

After narrowly avoiding relegation last season by finishing just three points ahead of Nice, who were positioned for the relegation playoff, it appears that Le Havre may once again find themselves battling at the lower end of the table in the 2026-27 season.

Following a 1-0 loss to AS Mônaco, who are leading the table, on the season’s opening weekend, Didier Digard’s team seemed to stabilize with a commendable draw against Olympique Lyonnais. However, after a recent 2-1 defeat to Brest at the Stade Oceane, Le Havre’s league campaign has started to look concerning.

With just one point obtained from their first three league matches, Le Club Doyen currently sits in a lowly 16th place in the Ligue 1 standings. Nevertheless, with vital matches against the two teams positioned below them in the coming month, they will undoubtedly aim to escape from danger soon.

So for Le Havre, an ideal way to commence this sequence would be to secure a win against Angers this Saturday. Having not lost any of their last four encounters with Les Noir et Blancs, including a 2-1 triumph during their last meeting at the Stade Oceane, the home side will be optimistic about achieving that goal.

Despite having a somewhat similar 2025-26 Ligue 1 season as their opponents and finishing just one point ahead of Le Club Doyen in the league table, Angers will likely be more satisfied with their start to the current campaign.

After suffering a 2-0 defeat at home to one of the league’s top teams, LOSC Lille, in their first match, Stephane Gilli’s squad bounced back remarkably by achieving a 3-1 victory away at Auxerre, marking their first win at the Stade l’Abbe-Deschamps in over a decade.

However, after another home defeat last weekend, falling 2-1 to Rennes, Le SCO now finds themselves slipping back into the bottom half of the table. With some challenging fixtures looming, the visitors will be keen to prevent a further decline when they take on Le Havre this Saturday night.

Although they have not secured a win in their last four encounters with Le Club Doyen, Angers have only lost two of their last eight matches against Saturday’s opponents and achieved a 1-0 victory when the teams faced each other at the Stade Oceane in December 2024.

Team News

Le Havre is facing a somewhat constrained squad with goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi-Nzau and forward Felix Mambimbi both sidelined due to Achilles tendon injuries.

Defender Stephan Zagadou remains unavailable due to a cruciate ligament injury sustained in April, while Abdoulaye Toure is also out for the time being because of a knee issue.

Midfielder Junior Mwanga, who received a straight red card just before halftime in Saturday’s match against Brest, will be suspended and thus not available for this weekend’s fixture.

Conversely, Angers have a comparatively brief injury list, having not encountered any new issues in their squad this season.

Argélian midfielder Haris Belkebla is sidelined due to a thigh injury sustained during pre-season and had surgery in July, expected to be out for at least another week.

24-year-old Frenchman Louis Mouton, who has returned to full first-team training after undergoing surgery on his left meniscus in May, is nearing a return to the lineup, but it remains uncertain if he will be match-ready for Saturday.

Le Havre probable starting XI:

Gallon; Power, Sasso, Repentance; Jelert, Ebony, Richardson, White; Ndiaye, Samatta; Maja

Angers probable starting XI:

Lopes; Arcus, Camara, Lefort, Kalulu; Belkhdim, van den Boomen; Allevinah, Sbai, Bermont; El Ouazzani

With it appearing likely that both teams will be engaged in a relegation battle as the season progresses, Saturday’s match could prove to be significant as the campaign unfolds, despite only three matches having been played so far.

Even though the visitors head into the game with a slightly better start to the season, we anticipate Le Havre will secure their first victory of the campaign this weekend before a crucial run of fixtures.