Clermont's Draw Addiction Meets a Red Star Side With Something to Prove

Saturday 10 October 2026. Clermont host Red Star in Ligue 2. On paper it looks like a routine second-division fixture. The thing is, nothing about either of these sides is routine right now, and not in a good way.

Clermont: The Draw Factory

Let me be direct about what I see with Clermont. In their last five completed Ligue 2 matches, they have won zero. Zero. Four draws and a defeat. That is not a team with a system problem. That is a team with a desire problem.

Look at the goals. Three scored in five matches. Five conceded. They drew 1-1 with Dunkerque. They drew 0-0 with Sochaux. They drew 1-1 with Dijon. They lost 3-1 to Saint-Étienne. They drew 0-0 with Reims. That is the lot. That is what you are getting at the moment from Clermont at home.

Listen, a draw is not always a bad result. But four draws on the bounce at this level tells me a team has stopped believing they can actually win a game. They are settling. They are taking the point and shaking hands. That is unacceptable if you have ambitions in this division.

Zoom out to the last ten Ligue 2 matches and there are two wins in there, against Guingamp and Montpellier. So they can do it. They beat Montpellier 2-1 and Guingamp 1-0. But that form is months old now and they have not built on it. They have gone backwards. Accountability starts with the players on that pitch looking each other in the eye and asking whether they are really competing.

There is also a moderate injury absence to factor in on the Clermont side. One player is confirmed out. It is not the kind of detail that changes a game on its own, but when a squad is already low on confidence, you cannot afford to be short anywhere.

Red Star: More Dangerous Than Their Record Suggests

Red Star are not pulling up trees either, but the thing is, their last five matches show more character than Clermont's. Two wins, two draws, one loss. Red Star beat Laval 2-1 in their most recent outing. They beat Nantes 1-0 before that. They drew with Boulogne and Sochaux in between, and they took a heavy 4-1 defeat to Reims.

That loss to Reims is the obvious blemish. It is a bad result. But I trust my eyes over a single scoreline. Red Star have shown they can win games in this competition. Clermont have not won one in five attempts. That difference matters.

Over ten matches, Red Star have four wins, three draws, and three losses. They have scored sixteen and conceded sixteen in that sample. That is a side that creates chances and gives them away in equal measure. It is not defensively solid. But it is a side that competes and finds a way to score.

Red Star do have two absences worth noting. One player is out with a major injury, with no return date given. A second player is currently suspended. Losing two squad members is a genuine concern, particularly the major injury which has been ongoing since May. The manager will need to problem-solve in terms of selection. But the squad still has enough to make life very difficult for a Clermont side that has not kept a clean sheet in four of their last ten matches.

Head to Head

There is only one previous meeting on record between these two clubs in this competition. Red Star won that match 1-0, keeping a clean sheet in the process. One match is too small a sample to draw firm conclusions from. But the direction of that result points Red Star's way, and they will know it.

Goals: Where Is the Value?

Both sides have shown a 60 percent BTTS rate in their last five matches. Clermont's clean sheet rate in the five-match sample sits at 40 percent, which sounds decent until you remember two of those were goalless draws where they also failed to score. Red Star's clean sheet rate in the same window is 40 percent as well.

Looking at ten matches for Red Star, their BTTS rate climbs to 80 percent. They have been involved in matches where goals fly in from both ends. Against Reims alone they gave up four. Against Guingamp they scored three. They are not a side that shuts up shop.

Clermont, conversely, have averaged well under a goal a game across their last five. Three goals in five matches. The attack is misfiring badly. If they do not score, they do not win. That sounds obvious. But the basics have to be right first.

My Read on This

The thing is, I do not back Clermont to win this game. They have had five matches to find a winning feeling and they have not managed it. Their attack is producing almost nothing. Their home record offers no comfort. Drawing 0-0 twice at home is not a platform. It is a warning sign.

Red Star have problems of their own. Two absences hurt. Their defensive record over ten matches is poor. But they have won recently. They won their last match. They have goals in them even when things are not perfect. Clermont do not appear to have that same resource right now.

If Red Star manage their defensive basics in the first half and stay in the game, I think they have the tools to nick this. Their most recent win came away from home against Laval. They are not afraid of travelling and getting a result.

I am looking at Red Star to take something from this match. The draw is very much in play given Clermont's habit of settling for one. But Red Star have the better recent momentum, end of.