We head into the 23rd week of French Ligue 1 action with Monaco now officially cut adrift at the bottom of the standings along with Guingamp following their 2-0 home loss against Dijon last week. Things don’t get easier for the team from the Principality as they welcome Toulouse to the Stade Louis II. The weekend’s biggest fixture, however, sees Lyon travel to PSG while Strasbourg’s fine of form will be tested as they visit St. Etienne.
Standings provided by Sofascore LiveScore
Lille 8/10
Draw 49/20
Nice 15/4
(21:45)
Lille’s incredible revival continued last week as they claimed a dramatic 2-1 win away at Marseille. The victory was their fifth in a row in all competitions, as they tightened their grip on second place. It really is remarkable when you consider they fought against relegation last season. Nice got back to winning ways last week as they cruised to a 2-0 win over an inconsistent Nimes side. They’ve now picked up eight points from their last four games but will certainly find life difficult away at one of the division’s form sides this weekend. You can’t look past Lille here – they’ve been superb this season and should claim the win here at 8/10.
Saturday 2 February
Angers 1/1
Draw 47/20
Dijon 28/10
(21:00)
Angers have been woefully inconsistent of late, which is about as much as you expect from a side in the lower reaches of the league. They’ve only claimed one win in their last 10 outings, but six draws in that time have probably kept them out of the drop zone. Dijon picked up a massive three points last week as they ran out 2-0 winners over a shambolic Monaco side. The win was Dijon’s third in five matches across all competitions as their mini-revival continues. I’d avoid this one if I were you. If you must have a go, take Dijon on the Win/Draw at 15/20.
Stade Rennais 6/10
Draw 28/10
Amiens 47/10
(21:00)
Stade Rennais certainly have been a different side at home this season. They’ve won five and drawn one at Roazhon Park of late across all competitions, while their away record has seen them win two of their last five. This is certainly something to keep in mind when they welcome Amiens this weekend. Amiens are a dreadful outfit on the road, winning just two of their last 15 away matches. They’re also on a four-match losing streak at the moment having played the likes of PSG, Lille and Lyon over the last few weeks. Rennes should be much too good for this Amiens outfit at home – back them to get the job done in fairly comfortable fashion.
Monaco 15/20
Draw 26/10
Toulouse 36/10
(21:00)
Every time I’ve shown a little bit of faith in Monaco this season, they’ve disappointed me. Well, no more of that! Radamel Falcao and his merry band of flops have been dire this season, both home and away and probably deserve to go down. The price of 36/10 is massive for a young, ever-improving Toulouse side – value bet for the weekend, this!
Bordeaux 17/20
Draw 24/10
Guingamp 7/2
(21:00)
We’re off to beautiful Bordeaux next for what should be a fairly straight-forward win for the city’s largest football club. Eric Bedouet’s side haven’t been as consistent as he’d like over the last few weeks, but they really should be far too strong for the division’s whipping boys, Guingamp. Guingamp have only picked up two wins on the road all season. A 2-0 win over Monaco two weeks ago and a 1-0 victor over Angers in September. They were given a 9-0 hiding in their last away trip by PSG. Dressing room confidence at the club will be at an all-time low, and they’ll be ripe for the taking on Saturday. Home win at 17/20 is the way to go here – add to all weekend multiples.
Reims 33/20
Draw 21/10
Marseille 18/10
(22:00)
Reims have certainly been one of this season’s over-achievers. Having been promoted from Ligue 2 last season, they find themselves on 31 points after 22 matches. They claimed their seventh win of the campaign this season last week at Guingamp in a 1-0 win. Remarkably, Marseille will drop below Reims in the league standings if they lose this weekend. It’s a result you can see happening too. Marseille’s frankly shocking away form has been well documented this season: they’ve only won four from 17 away fixtures this term in all competitions. Simply not good enough for one of the traditional powerhouses of French football. Reims to claim the points here.
Sunday 3 February
Nimes 31/20
Draw 43/20
Montpellier 37/20
(16:00)
Sunday’s first fixture sees another newly-promoted side, Nimes, do battle against a very decent Montpellier outfit. Nimes are on a curious sequence of results that reads LWLWL. Normally, you can’t really read too much into these sorts of things, though. However, their home form of late reads WLWLW – pretty bizarre stuff I’d say! Montpellier won’t be too fussed with their Sunday opposition’s strange win/loss patterns. They grabbed a 2-0 home win over Caen last weekend after back to back draws against Dijon and Stade Rennais. Interestingly, these two draws were preceded by two defeats. If they claim the win this weekend, their recent record will read LLDDWW. Patterns aside, I think that Montpellier have the better squad and should be able to claim the points here, even away from home.
St. Etienne 9/10
Draw 5/2
Strasbourg 3/1
(18:00)
St. Etienne will face a stern test of their home credentials when they welcome Strasbourg to the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard this weekend. The hosts have picked up 10 points from their last five matches in the league, only losing – disappointingly so – against Lyon in that period, thanks to a 95th-minute winner from Moussa Dembele. Strasbourg’s remarkable run of form continued as they registered their fourth league win on the spin. They’re now pushing pretty hard for a European place and Thierry Laurey won’t want them taking the foot off the gas, but a win away at a strong St. Etienne side may just be a bridge too far for the plucky over-achievers. Take the home side to win here.
Lyon 3/1
Draw 3/1
PSG 8/10
(22:00)
We round off the weekend’s action with a blockbuster tie between Lyon and PSG. Lyon have won two on the spin, with a 2-1 victory over St. Etienne followed by a sketchy 1-0 win over struggling Amiens. They’re certainly outsiders on Sunday, but will take heart from the fact that PSG are missing two key players in Neymar and Marco Verratti. PSG will still feel that they have enough firepower to claim the win here despite the abovementioned injuries. The Parisians are undefeated in the league this season, and have won all four of their last fixtures, scoring goals in that period. There is incredible value on PSG here – get on at 8/10.
TREBLE @ 5/1
Lille Win 8/10
Bordeaux Win 17/20
PSG Win 8/10
Written by Jason Dewey