We’re heading into the final matchweek of the 2017/18 Ligue 1 season with plenty still to play for. Monaco, Lyon and Marseille are all locked in a three-way battle for a Champions League spot.
Meanwhile at the other end of the table, Metz’s relegation has been confirmed with Troyes, Toulouse and Caen battling it out to avoid the drop.
Saturday 19 May
St. Etienne 9/20
Draw 33/10
Lille 11/2
(21:00)
St. Etienne have experienced a slight wobble toward the back end of their season. Two losses on the trot against Monaco and Bordeaux have seen them drop down to eighth in the standings with a match to play. They were perhaps unlucky last week to lose against Monaco after Fabinho converted a 91st minute penalty. Lille had their safety confirmed last week as South African Lebo Mothiba struck twice to earn his club their third win on the spin. Les Dogues will be buzzing following their run in recent weeks and will be confident of going to Stade Geoffroy-Guichard and getting a point at the very least. Back Lille on the Win/Draw here at 15/10.
Dijon 12/10
Draw 51/20
Angers 21/10
(21:00)
Dijon’s late season form has been patchy to say the least. They’ve only managed two wins from their last nine games and look set to finish in the bottom half of the table. They were beaten last time out by Lille despite taking an early lead through Korean Kwon Chang-Hoon. Angers were perhaps surprisingly beaten last weekend by Nantes. Stephane Moulin’s men had been on a decent run in recent weeks and would have been confident of turning over a Nantes outfit who had found themselves on the wrong end of the form table. End of season lethargy is likely here, take the Under 2.5 Goals market at 6/10.
Toulouse 5/10
Draw 34/10
Guingamp 52/10
(21:00)
Toulouse need a minor miracle in order to avoid the promotion/relegation play-offs. They need to beat Guingamp and hope that Caen are hammered by PSG (an eight-goal swing is required). The hosts have lost their last three on the spin and are up against a solid mid-table outfit in Guingamp so I can’t understand why they’re 5/10 favourites? Back Guingamp here purely on price – 52/10 is huge.
Marseille 2/9
Draw 11/2
Amiens 10/1
(21:00)
We’ll keep this segment of the preview pretty short. Marseille had yet to play their Europa League final at the time of writing. Should they fail to beat Atletico they’ll be going all out to earn a Champions League spot. Amiens have been good this season but should be no match for the southern giants. Take the hosts on the (-1) Handicap at 11/20.
Metz 11/2
Draw 7/2
Bordeaux 9/20
(21:00)
Another one we needn’t look into too much. Metz know they’ll be playing their football in Ligue 2 with most players looking for moves to clubs in the country’s top division. Bordeaux have won three on the spin and should have no problems here – 9/20 is an absolute gift.
Stade Rennais 1/1
Draw 47/20
Montpellier 28/10
(21:00)
Stade Rennais have been absolutely firing in recent weeks, winning three on the spin including a cracking 2-0 win away at PSG in what was the Parisians first home league defeat of the season. They’ll be desperate to end their season on a high against a side as strong as Montpellier. Montpellier were disappointingly held to a 1-1 draw against lowly Troyes last week. An unsatisfactory result considering how well they played in the previous week to beat Nantes 2-0. I can only see one winner here, Stade Rennais have been on fire and should be too good even for a solid Montpellier outfit.
Nantes 8/10
Draw 51/20
Strasbourg 34/10
(21:00)
Nantes finally put their awful run of form behind them with a superb 2-0 win away at Angers. The victory was their first in eight as the pressure mounted on out-of-favour Claudio Ranieri. The Italian boss looks as though he’ll leave the club at the end of this season after falling out with the board – a shame as at one stage of the season it looked as though he’d have a chance of guiding his side into the Champions League places. Strasbourg shocked Lyon last week with a 3-2 victory at home thanks to two late goals from Nuno Da Costa and Dimitri Lienard. This was their first win in 13 matches in all competitions and you can’t help but feel it was a one-off. With this in mind, you simply have to back Nantes to come away with the points at 8/10.
Lyon 9/20
Draw 39/10
Nice 5/1
(21:00)
Lyon were completely and utterly shocked last week by Strasbourg who beat them 3-2 at Stade de la Meinau. That defeat couldn’t have come at a worse time, their qualification to next season’s Champions League is no longer in their own hands. They need a win here with Monaco needing to draw or lose at Troyes. Nice’s fine run of form continued as they smashed Caen 4-1 at the Allianz Riviera last week in which Mario Balotelli scored a brace. Lucien Farve will demand that his players give one last push as they look to finish the season in fifth place. I’m not sure whether or not Lyon would have fully recovered from last week’s shock defeat. There will be goals in this though, so get on the Over 2.5 Market at 7/20.
Caen 36/10
Draw 31/10
Paris Saint-Germain 13/20
(21:00)
PSG endured a shock defeat last weekend at the hands of Stade Rennais last week, although you simply don’t see them slipping up against Caen – who have been dreadful of late – in the final week of the season. They should win quite easily here – 13/20 is an excellent price.
Troyes 9/2
Draw 34/10
Monaco 5/10
(21:00)
Troyes have been woeful this season and rightly look as though they’ll go down this season. They’ve only won once in their last 12 matches. This doesn’t bode well for their very slim hopes of survival as they welcome Monaco to Stade de I’Aube this week. The men from the Principality enjoyed the perfect set of results last week as they put themselves in pole position for Champions League qualification with their win over St. Etienne with Marseille and Lyon dropping points helping their cause immeasurably. Monaco have it all to play for and will come out firing against Troyes – back the away side on the (-1) Handicap here at 5/4.
TREBLE @ 5/1
Monaco (-1) Handicap 5/4
Bordeaux Win 9/20
Nantes Win 8/10
Written by Jason Dewey