No time to take a breathe this week as Ligue 1 gets into it’s eighth week the day after Week 7 has finished. Rennes, Marseille and Saint-Etienne will hope to continue their strong home form. Bordeaux try to recover from shipping six as they welcome Lyon to the Matmut Atlantique and Nantes will hope their extra week’s rest will help them end an 11-year drought against Paris Saint-Germain.
FC Nantes v Paris Saint-Germain: 16:30 Saturday – @Gibney_A
Eleven years ago, Nantes and PSG were locked goalless with 15 minutes to go at the Stade de la Beaujoire. Vahid Halihodzic made the decision to bring Albanian midfielder Lorik Cana off the bench to strengthen the away side – it wouldn’t work.
With just seconds remaining, Nantes were awarded a penalty and club legend Nicolas Savinaud stepped up to seal the 1-0 win, giving Les Canaris all three points. Sadly, it would be the last time the Beaujoire crowd would see their team beat the Parisians.
Now, Cana has gone full circle. After spells at Marseille, Sunderland and Lazio, the 32-year-old has made his return to Ligue 1 and will be crucial to any chance his side has of ending an 11-year drought this weekend.
He was on the losing side back in 2004; now a veteran himself, what are the odds of him taking Savinaud’s role and scoring an injury time penalty in front of the Brigade Loire? – not very good if you go on recent form.
Nantes have failed to score in their last three games this season. They will have enjoyed their extra break, with their mid-week game against Lille pushed to next week due to the Eurobasket taking place at the Stade Pierre Mauroy. It will have given Michel Der Zakarian a chance to work with his team and try to find a way to stop the champions.
PSG travel to Ukraine mid-week for their second Champions League fixture against Shakhtar Donetsk, meaning Blanc will once again mix things up for the league match. Nantes have a chance – a slim chance, but any sliver of hope will do at the moment.
Girondins de Bordeaux v Olympique Lyonnais: 19:00 Saturday – @JeremySmith98
Bordeaux welcome Lyon to the Matmut Atlantique hoping to avenge last year’s 0-5 mauling at the Chaban-Delmas, but with confidence shaken coming off the back of another five-goal defeat, after Willy Sagnol’s men went down 6-1 at Nice on Wednesday.
Les Girondins have played some good football this season, with the draw at PSG a particular highlight. But with only one Ligue 1 win this season, the team sits fifth bottom. The first half against Nice was promising with France Under-21 striker Enzo Crivelli setting up Jaroslav Plasil to give Bordeaux an early lead, and in-form Wahbi Khazri pulling the strings (as well as taking a dive when a shot seemed a better option). But an eight-minute period either side of half time in which Khazri missed a one-on-one, Nice took the lead and Crivelli saw red for a nasty lunge, turned the match on its head. Crivelli misses the Lyon match, giving Diego Rolan or Isaac Kiese Thelin the chance to impress.
Contrary to Bordeaux, Lyon’s form has looked shaky this season but they have so far escaped with only one defeat and sit in fourth place, following a 2-0 win at Bastia. Star of the show was 19-year-old Aldo Kalulu, who marked his full debut with an impudent goal. At the other end of the age spectrum, Steed Malbranque impressed, Corentin Tolisso and Sergi Darder worked well in midfield and Alexandre Lacazette also looked bright, and just needs his luck to turn a little. Hubert Fournier has a couple of quandaries: whether to start with both Kalulu and Beauvue to rest Lacazette’s back; and whether to give newbie Darder a breather, particularly with the Champions League coming up in midweek.
Expect a far closer-fought match than last year, as Bordeaux aim to wipe out the memory of two thrashings.
Saint-Etienne v OGC Nice: 20:00 Sunday – @rich_allen85
Well, it seems that Christophe Galtier is doing it again. Write him and Saint-Etienne off at your peril. Second in the table, undefeated since the opening day of the season and now (whisper it) adding a bit of of attacking promise. Valentin Eysseric is starting to hit something close to form on a more regular basis and Jonathan Bamba has looked an exciting prospect since being drafted into the team.
In Slovenian Robert Beric they also seem to have a decent looking central striker. With Eysseric, Bamba and Romain Hamouma providing pace, guile and passing ability, Beric really does like he could be the one to profit. Seven goals in the last four games seems almost unheard for les Verts and with their defence maintaining it’s traditional strength, Galtier could well be able to, unbelievably, take this team to yet another level.
They come up against a Nice side riding high after back to back comprehensive wins. It’s been an excellent week for Claude Puel and les Aiglons as they followed up a 3-1 win in Corsica against Bastia with a 6-1 mauling of Bordeaux, albeit aided by an Enzo Crivelli rush of blood to the head red card.
Puel’s key this season had been the form of Hatem Ben Arfa, Valere Germain and Alassane Plea with all three combining well for the goals. With Plea now out of action for a couple of weeks there was a chance of disruption. Being able to call upon former Le Havre striker Mickael Le Bihan as a replacement though shows that for the first time in a long time, Puel seems to getting something close to squad depth.
Le Bihan will be eager to follow up on his first goal for the club with another powerful display against Saint-Etienne on Sunday evening. This has the potential to be a storming game of football and could in all honesty go either way. The best bet however may be on a high scoring draw as both teams will be eager to keep their good form going.
TIPS
Week 8’s bet went for a burton, but we will carry on. Hopefully this week’s tip can prove fruitful. Caen are in good form at home, expect them to beat Gazelec. Rennes take on new boys Troyes in Brittany and they should pick up all three points – the last one will be Toulouse facing defeat away in Corsica – they have yet to win away from home and have only scored twice on their travels.
A £5 bet would win you around £44. Good luck.
PREDICTIONS
Well done to Jeremy, top points last week – plus it is getting tight at the top.