Troyes v Le Mans preview: Ligue 1 strugglers meet on matchday 9

The occasion and the table

Troyes host Le Mans in Ligue 1 on matchday 9, with kick-off on 31 October 2026 at 19:45. Both clubs sit in the lower half of the table, and both arrive looking for points to ease the pressure.

Troyes are 17th with 5 points from 8 matches. They have 1 win, 2 draws and 5 defeats, scoring 5 goals and conceding 16. Le Mans are 15th with 7 points from their 8 matches, made up of 1 win, 4 draws and 3 defeats. They have scored 11 and also conceded 16.

The two sides have let in the same number of goals. At the other end of the pitch, however, Le Mans have found the net far more often, which explains much of the narrow gap between them in the standings.

Recent form

Troyes come into the match on the back of a 0-0 draw away to Toulouse. Before that, they lost 1-3 at home to Lens, and before that they were beaten 0-2 at home by Marseille. Before that came a 0-2 defeat away to Angers, and before that another 0-2 loss away to Lille. That run reads 0 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats from their last 5 matches.

Le Mans most recently drew 1-1 away to Auxerre. Before that, they lost 0-3 at home to Toulouse, and before that they went down 1-3 away to Paris Saint-Germain. Before that, they won 2-1 at home against Lorient, and before that they drew 2-2 at home with Lens. Their last 5 matches therefore produced 1 win, 2 draws and 2 defeats.

Home and away records

The venue split offers little comfort to either side. Troyes have played 4 home matches in Ligue 1 this season and are yet to win one, recording 1 draw and 3 defeats. They have scored 3 goals and conceded 11 in those games.

Le Mans are still looking for their first away win of the campaign. From 4 matches on the road they have 2 draws and 2 defeats, scoring 5 goals and conceding 8. One of these two records will improve if either side takes all three points.

Players to watch

Louis Mafouta is Le Mans's top scorer in Ligue 1 this season with 4 goals. That accounts for a significant share of his team's 11 league goals, and he is the clearest attacking threat in this fixture.

For Troyes, Antoine Mille leads the scoring charts with 1 goal. That figure reflects how goals have been spread thinly across a side that has scored only 5 times in 8 league matches.

How the two sides tend to play

The numbers point to contrasting profiles. Troyes have struggled to create and convert chances: they scored in only 1 of their last 5 matches. Their defence has shown signs of tightening, though, with a clean sheet in the goalless draw at Toulouse, which was their 1 shutout in that run. Both teams scored in just 1 of those 5 matches.

Le Mans have been far more open. They scored in 4 of their last 5 matches but failed to keep a clean sheet in any of them, and both teams found the net in 4 of those games. Their matches have tended to feature goals at both ends.

That sets up a clear contrast: a Troyes side whose matches have rarely seen many goals of their own, against a Le Mans team who usually score but also concede regularly.

Estimated win chances

Estimated win chances from market data, computed by goal888 with the margin removed, put Troyes at 40%, the draw at 27% and Le Mans at 33%. These figures are estimates derived from market data and are not a prediction of the result.

Calculated from market prices, not a prediction or betting advice.