Are Saint-Etienne the closest we’ve got to a genuine title contender this season? Will Angers continue their amazing run? Who will suck more out of Lille and Marseille? All these questions may not be answered this weekend, but it will be a fantastic watch.
Outside of first place, this has been a fascinating start to the Ligue 1 campaign. There is no rhyme or reason to the table and it is as unpredictable as ever.
Olympique Lyonnais v Toulouse FC: Friday 19:30 – @jeremysmith98
Two teams struggling under the weight of different expectations meet in what suddenly feels like an important match.
On the face of it Lyon are not doing too badly: five points off second and only one point worse off than at this point last season. But things are not rosy at the Gerland. Nabil Fekir’s loss is being keenly felt (Jean-Michel Aulas thinks it has cost the team six points), none of the summer signings have bedded in yet, Lindsay Rose’s has been excluded from the squad after allegedly head-butting Corentin Tolisso, Mapou Yanga Mbiwa has confirmed that there is lots of tension backstage and the Champions League campaign looks like a write-off. However, on a more positive note, Alexandre Lacazette looks close to returning to something like last year’s form and confidence, as his fantastic finish against Zenit indicated, and, Lyon have the personnel to suggest that their form will pick up sooner or later.
Despite a harsh three-day turnaround (something to which one imagines PSG would never be subjected), Friday’s match at home to Toulouse is a good place to start. Lacazette is expected to recover from a knock received on Tuesday and, as much as anything because of the club’s long injury list, there are unlikely to be many changes to the squad. Hubert Fournier will decide whether to persist with the new 4-3-3 or return to the diamond – and we wait with baited breath to see which of right back, left back or right wing Rafael appears as this time.
Toulouse can consider themselves lucky not to be in the relegation zone right now. Winless since the opening match of the season, they look a poor side on the slide. Only Troyes have conceded more goals, for the second consecutive season neither goalkeeper is convincing, and the team is yet again reliant on its strikers to bail them out: Martin Braithwaite has five but his purple patches rarely last too long, and Wissam Ben Yedder, while still showing moments of class, is clearly in la ville rose under duress. Yann Bodiger is trying his best to protect the defence but it is a lot of work for a 20-year-old to take on, and Adrien Regattin sadly doesn’t have the ability to match his enthusiasm. On the up-side, they have gone a month without a red card, captain-and-arguably-best-defender-and-attacker-Jean-Daniel-Akpa-Akpro is back from suspension, as is Uros Spajic. Ahamada remains in goal with Goicoechea.
Something has to give as a shaky attack hosts a dodgy defence. Despite tiredness, Lyon should come out on top.
Lille OSC v Olympique de Marseille: Sunday 16:00 – @Gibney_A
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Just two years ago as Marseille finished second and Lille sixth, Salomon Kalou and Dimitri Payet lined up to face Andre-Pierre Gignac, Mathieu Valbuena and Andre Ayew at the Stade Pierre Mauroy. Steve Mandanda was in outstanding form, keeping the home side at bay and well deserving of his clean sheet in a 0-0 draw.
On Sunday, both sides do battle again, but their fortunes have changed somewhat.
OM are 16th, have not won any of their last seven games in all competitions and look like a ship without a captain at the helm, or even a steering wheel.
Lille have gone through a huge upheaval in the summer, trying to push out the deadwood, but now it just looks like the deadwood is a little younger and perhaps not even as talented.
Hervé Renard’s team has the joint best defensive record in the league – that won’t be helped by injury to Marko Basa and suspension to Stoppila Sunzu – but also the league’s second worst attack. Sofiane Boufal has scored four of Lille’s five goals – talk about putting all your eggs in the one basket. Without the young playmaker, things would be considerably greyer in the north of France.
This is a great chance for both sides to pick up three points and try and start something resembling a run. On form, it’s neck and neck, both with one win in the last six in the league. Which should hopefully – because @gibney_a will be there – lead to an entertaining encounter.
Marseille have had no problem scoring goals and that might give them the edge as no matter how leaky their backline has been, Lille would need to work out how to find the net to even dream about victory.
Paris Saint-Germain v Saint-Etienne: Sunday 20:00 – @rich_allen85
Sunday night sees top of the table PSG play host to Saint-Etienne, probably the only other side performing as was expected of them. Trips to the capital rarely result in a happy return home for les Verts as they have only come away with all three points on two occasions in the last 15 years. Last year they were on the wrong end of a 5-0 drubbing as Stephane Ruffier conceded *that* own goal.
PSG, as we discussed on this week’s podcast, have flattered to deceive as they continue to put in relatively lethargic performances, aside from a 15 minute burst per game. It’s felt like quite a long time since PSG have put in an all-commanding performance; after a frustrating Champions League draw against Real Madrid, this would be the perfect time to remedy that.
In Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani PSG have the league’s most in-form, out of form strikers. Both have looked far off the pace but have somehow scored 12 goals between them so far this season. Kevin Trapp will be back in goal and with Ruffier at the other end we could be in for a night of excellent saves and comical errors.
What Saint-Etienne would do to have a striker playing poorly but still scoring, however. It’s been a similar tale of grinding out low-scoring wins for Christophe Galtier’s side this campaign. Captain and central defender Loic Perrin remains their top scorer with three; let that sink in (although transfer-deadline sigining Robert Beric has two in four starts). They face a long trip back from Ukraine on Thursday and with not the largest of squads, tiredness could become a factor.
Whilst we, justifiably, grow frustrated with PSG’s and Saint-Etienne’s lack of effort and of excitement respectively, it’s hard to argue that so far it has proven effective. You just feel that both teams could offer so much more if they tried. Expect more of the same from both sides on Sunday night and if that proves to be the case, a PSG win by a couple of goals would be a good bet for a result.
TIPS
The FFW team are predicting a lot of home wins this weekend, so just as well that Andrew went for Lyon to beat Toulouse, Gazelec to lose to Nice and Angers to continue their run against Guingamp. A £5 bet with a well-known betting site should win you around £43.
PREDICTIONS