The first mid-week set of fixtures this season sees Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the table take on in-form Guingamp. Angers and Reims do battle in the top six, Rennes take their quick start to Corsica and both Lille and Nantes get an extra few days off because of the Eurobasket at Stade Pierre Mauroy.

 

SCO Angers v Stade de Reims: Tuesday 18:00 – @Gibney_A

Tuesday night at the Stade Jean Bouin represents a fixture that perfectly sums up the bizarre start to Ligue 1 this season. Sixth place Angers host Fifth place Stade de Reims in a game that no one would have predicted would have been in top half of the table.

Despite playing with 10-men for around an hour against fellow new boys Troyes – after Cheikh Ndoye tried to recreate The Karate Kid – Thomas Mangani’s second half penalty sealed the three points and Stephane Moulin’s team continued their unexpected start.

That was SCO’s first win at the Bouin Jean, taking their home unbeaten record to three, but Tuesday’s test will be the toughest so far.

Just like Angers, Reims have enjoyed a wonderful start to their campaign. Even on Saturday, the prospect of facing Paris Saint-Germain didn’t faze Olivier Guégan’s men.

After taking the lead, it took a late Edinson Cavani equaliser to stop the home side picking up another fantastic win. These two sides will both expect to win on Tuesday and rather than cancel each other out, the styles could give us quite the spectacle.

For Reims, they will be hoping that Nicolas De Preville continues his hot start. It was his direct approach and tenacious attitude that helped set up Jordan Siebatcheu on Saturday.

The 24-year-old has two goals and now two assists this campaign, and he will certainly ask questions of Moulin’s defence on Tuesday.

 

FC Lorient v SM Caen: Wednesday 18:00 – @Gibney_A

Patrice Garande takes his side to Brittany on Wednesday night knowing that they could go into the weekend as high as first or second.

Along with Reims and Angers, they are one of the early stories of the season and will hope to make it three wins-in-a-row at the Stade le Moustoir, but they will know it has been five years since Youssef El Arabi scored the winner in their last victory in the same fixture.

Lorient are the epitome of inconsistency this season. Two draws followed two draws and then Sylvain Ripoll’s side went on to win their last two fixtures.

Coming off the back of their unexpected 3-2 win at the Stade Louis II, FCL’s victory over Monaco should hopefully be the spark to kick start their season, but with Les Merlus – you never know.

Seven different players have scored for Caen so far this season, Ronny Rodelin and Jeff Louis picking up their first strikes in the 2-1 win over Montpellier.

Garande has the whole team playing well, goals and assists coming from all over the pitch. He has found the right blend of attack and creativity, with a strong defensive base.

Despite playing away from home, the Normand side will start slight favourites on Wednesday and can solidify their strong start with a victory.

Toulouse FC v Olympique de Marseille: Wednesday 20:00 – @rich_allen85

Throwing away leads has been the order of the day in the last two games for Toulouse. Four times this season, le Téfécé have taken the lead, pushed hard but after all the effort failed to maintain their advantage. Down to 10 men against Bordeaux on Sunday, they held out until the dying moments until Enzo Crivelli bundled home an equaliser. It will be interesting to see if Toulouse can finally get over this jinx that seems to have taken hold of them this season.

After all the drama of the Olympico on Sunday night, Marseille will be keen to let their football do the talking. Unfortunately it’s been two away games and two defeats in the league this season for l’OM. Disappointing performances away to Reims and Guingamp counter the big home wins over Troyes and Bastia which cannot mask the fact that things have not quite yet settled into place for Michel. Missing the suspended Romain Alessandrini, Marseille could give another start to youngster Georges-Kevin Nkoudou who performed so well amidst a sea of chaos on Sunday night.

The same fixture last season finished in a 6-1 win for Marseille however their travails on the road mean that scoreline is unlikely to be repeated. With only one goal scored in the second half and a seeming inability to keep a lead, Toulouse will need to focus on remedying both of these issues if they are to get anything from this game. A return to form of Wissam Ben Yedder, reprimanded for his poor attitude after the Reims game, will be vital for both this game and the bigger picture for Toulouse.

 

Montpellier HSC v AS Monaco: Thursday 17:55 – @Philby1976

Montpellier are having very little luck this season as all parts of the team – including on the bench – are failing to find form. They sit 19th with a solitary point from a goalless draw against Troyes, and while there has been a slight uptick in the quality of performance since then, it’s barely discernible. They have at least scored some goals now, an injury-time consolation against St Etienne from Joris Marveaux and a Jonas Martin penalty against Caen, but in that game they barely shot at all, and were denied a point with the last kick of the game as Jeff Louis scored. Morgan Sanson’s still injured, Geoffrey Jourdren’s out for a while after a shoulder operation, Jonathan Ligali caused a collective panic attack for colleagues and fans alike with a mad dash nearly to the half-way line against Caen requiring Hilton to take up place in goal…

Monaco, meanwhile, are having a slightly better time of it, on 11th with 8 points, but not looking great. The defence that only conceded 26 last season has let in 8 already, despite only minor changes to personnel; the attack that wasn’t prolific has seen more disruption and is struggling to find an edge. Considering the transfer window, arguably it was not the departure of Anthony Martial, despite the fact that his goals would be very useful, but that of Geoffrey Kondogbia (with the knock-on effect of pushing Fabinho into midfield) which has destabilised things.

The prospects for a thriller in this early evening kick-off seem limited, therefore, as both teams are yet to settle. As the pressure on Rolland Courbis increases, Montpellier will be desperate to get something from the game, which could well leave gaps to exploit; the question will then be whether Monaco have the ability to do that.

TIPS

After his first successful three-team tip – Gibney is back for a mid-week accumulator.

After their quick start, it’s hard to look past Rennes winning away at Gazelec. In a tough game in Brittany, Caen should keep up their good record against Lorient – and then after winning at home to Nantes, back Saint-Etienne to beat Troyes away.

Three away wins is a risk, but £5 on wins you £95 – worth a risk.

PREDICTIONS