Section Paloise vs Stade Francais Paris Prediction & Betting Tips - Top 14

Prediction published on 23/11/2023, 17:21  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 23/11/2023 at 17:21 in Rugby Predictions

Arguably, the match of the weekend in the Top 14 will see Pau playing host to Stade Francais on Saturday afternoon. The hosts are in fourth place, while the visitors lead the league standings after seven matches. Despite the league positions, though, there is just one point separating these two teams. Pau have made a solid start to the 2023 Top 14 campaign and could even take the lead in the league if a few results go their way this weekend. The hosts suffered a somewhat surprising 35-16 loss to Bayonne last week, which ended a five-match winning streak. They will be determined to get back to winning ways here and will be brimming with confidence, having won each of their last nine home games dating back to January. Despite their poor recent form against this opposition, the hosts are strongly fancied to claim the points in this one. 

Stade Francais have been the most improved side in the Top 14 this term. After only managing an 11th-placed finish last season, they have already accumulated 23 points in this campaign. Their current tally is just two short of half of what they managed across the whole of last season. The Pink Soldiers suffered their second loss of the season to Racing 92 last week. That followed consecutive wins over Lyon and Castres earlier this month. Notably, both their defeats this season were in away games, with the previous loss coming against Perpignan back in week one of the competition. While the visitors have won the last three encounters against this opponent, including a 37-3 victory last December, the bookmakers have them down as big underdogs in this match.