Ligue 1 is back after the international break and everyone is hoping that someone can stop the Paris Saint-Germain juggernaut. Stade de Reims, Stade Rennais and Angers try to continue their good starts, while Montpellier and Gazelec are just looking to find the back of the net.
by @Gibney_A
Olympique Lyonnais v Lille OSC: Saturday 16:00
Saturday afternoon sees Hervé Renard and Lille travel to the Stade Gerland for the very last time. Both teams picked up their first win of the season before the international break and both will be without creative influences going into the game.
Injury to Nabil Fekir on France duty is a huge blow to Lyon’s plans – especially after his superb hat-trick against Caen. Hubert Fournier will be looking for someone else to step up and fill the void, and one player it won’t be is Yassine Benzia.
The 22-year-old joined Lille on transfer deadline day and his new boss has already been full of praise for the former Lyon youngster.
“Benzia is a gift from heaven,” raved the former Sochaux coach. “Signing him was an incredible bargain given what a talented young player he is.”
“Certain clubs were offering €3m to sign Yassine, and that gave me the feeling that we wouldn’t be able to pull it off,” recalled Renard, whose club had to agree a 40 percent sell-on clause in order to sign Benzia for just €1 million. His new boss will be hoping that he can fill the void left by the suspended Sofiane Boufal this weekend.
It was only two years ago that Lille last came away from the Gerland with all three points – Dimitri Payet was the catalyst that day, setting up two goals in les Dogues’ 3-1 win; it would be a great story if Benzia could return to Lyon and become a thorn in his former club’s side.
Montpellier HSC v Saint-Etienne: Saturday 19:00
Down in the south of France, Montpellier welcome Saint-Etienne to the Stade de la Mosson on Saturday as one of only two clubs yet to score a goal this season.
Rolland Courbis’ side have struggled to get going so far, with just one point from four games. They have looked toothless and devoid of ideas, and the injuries are racking up, with Morgan Sanson still out, joined now by Jonas Martin, Souleymane Camara and Geoffrey Jourdren. La Paillade will be hoping new signing Mustapha Yatabare can help bring more of a cutting edge to the attack.
Saint-Etienne are already up and running, but needed a thumping long distance effort from Valentin Eysseric to claim all three points against Bastia before the break. Les Verts also have the Europa League to deal with this week, so will be hoping for a professional performance before they welcome Rosenborg on Thursday.
The omens are not good for the home side as Saint-Etienne have come away victorious in three of their last five visits. Last season two first half goals from Florentin Pogba and Paul Baysse made the difference.
Don’t expect goals to be free-flowing; the team that scores first could very well end up as the winner.
FC Nantes v Stade Rennais: Sunday 16:00
We love a good derby here at FFW and Sunday afternoon brings us a fantastic Breton derby at the Stade de la Beaujoire as eighth-placed Nantes welcome third-placed Rennes. Only two points separate the two sides, making this one of the most eagerly anticipated derby games these clubs have played for quite a few seasons.
After beating Reims 1-0 in Week Three, Nantes were brought back to earth with a 2-0 loss away at Bordeaux before the break and they will need to bounce back to keep their fans happy this weekend.
Amazingly, Nantes haven’t beaten Rennes at their own ground for 10 years. They will hope that this is a great chance to end the drought and leapfrog Philippe Montanier’s team in the table.
Claudiu Keseru and Nicolas Savinaud were the goal-scorers that day, with Yoann Gourcuff playing for les Rouges et Noir – it may not be long until Rennes welcome him back to the club.
Rennes have won three of their first four games and will be buoyed by their early performances. Montanier needs to show that he can find consistency in his selections and performances this season – if he can do that, Rennes will be contenders for a European place.
Michel Der Zakarian will be hoping for the same for his Canaris, but with only two goals in four games, they need to learn to run before they can fly.
TIPS
No podcast this week, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have any tips from you. Marseille and Monaco are favourites to beat Bastia and Gazelec – they should form the base of your accumulator. Then we are looking at Troyes v Caen to finish a draw.
Troyes have drawn all three of their home games so far and Caen have won one and drawn one of their away games.
A £5 bet would win you around £44 this weekend.
PREDICTIONS
