Lorient V Lens - Kicks off at 12:00 GMT - Live on BT Sport ESPN
Lorient are in free fall and it’s hard to see how they get out of it. After their recent 4-2 loss at Nantes it’s now fifteen league games without a win. Their only positives to take from the their latest defeat in the Breton Derby was that they managed to get their strikers on the score sheet. Terem Moffi got his third of the season (a long way off the fourteen he got last season) and 21 year old substitute Sambou Soumano got his second in eight appearances.
Les Merlus remain the lowest goal scores in Ligue 1 with just 18 in 22 matches. Malien striker Issa Kabore was signed on deadline day from Norwegian side Sarpsborg 8. Maybe he’ll get his debit here but if Lorient don’t start creating more chances it’s not going to get them out of the bottom three. Midfielder Laurent Abergel will miss this game with a groin injury.
Lens have lost their last two games, going down 2-0 at home to Marseille and being knocked out of the Cup at Monaco. That must be a huge disappointment to Franck Haise and his players. They will have felt they were capable of winning the Coupe De France and after looking like real contenders for Europe they’ve slipped to ninth in the league. Les Lensois did not bring any new players in over the January transfer window but will be delighted it’s shut without them losing their talismanic central midfielder Seko Fofana. The Ivoirian has been the lynchpin of Lens’ impressive form and has 8 goals in all competitions this season. Les Sangs Et Ors need a win here and should get it against the team with the worst form in the league. Lens have no major injuries or suspensions.
French Footy prediction: Lorient 0 - Lens 2
Reims V Bordeaux - Kicks off at 14:00 GMT
Reims managed to keep their best player and top scorer Hugo Ekitike despite keen interest from Newcastle.
According to Sky Sports News Newcastle bid £33 million for the 19 year old striker which was accepted by Reims. Yet the Reims born forward himself decided to stay at his home town club until the summer at least. With nine goals and two assists Ekitike is crucial to Oscar Garcia’s team. They sit in 14th place which is higher than I expected them to be at this stage. However they are just five points above the bottom three so Ekitike’s goals could still be integral to the Champagne club staying in Ligue 1. Form wise Stade De Reims have lost the last three including a defeat at home to a struggling Metz team and a cup defeat on penalties to Ligue 2 Bastia. They need a result here to keep some distance between them and Bordeaux. Reims are missing several players; midfielder Dion Lopy is suspended whilst right back Thomas Foket and midfielders Avalon Berisha and Marshall Munetsi are injured. Ghislain Konan, Moussa Doumbia and El Bilal Toure could all feature after recently being knocked out of the African Cup of Nations with their respective Countries.
Bordeaux recently let experienced centre back and Captain Laurent Koscielny leave the club in a bid to alleviate the clubs wage bill. Despite their financial issues it seems crazy to let an experienced defender with speed go when they are battling relegation. Going down to Ligue 2 is not going to help their finances either. In a bizarre semi u turn they then decided to keep him at the club in a coaching/advisory capacity yet to be decided. In his stead they have signed Marcelo from Lyon.
The 34 year old Brazilian has experience but struggled with a severe lack of pace at Lyon so it’s hard to see how he improves things. Les Bordelais also tried to sign defender Phil Jones from Manchester United. The player decided not to move to Girondes and stay in Manchester for the time being. Brazilian midfielder Otero has gone out on loan to Atletico Mineiro. Bordeaux went from their worst result of the season (6-0 loss at Rennes) to one of their best with a 4-3 home win over in form Strasbourg. That win, just the fourth of the season took them out of the bottom three by a point. Inevitably it was their strikers that got them out of travel. Hwang Ui Jo scored a hat trick to take his tally to 9 this campaign with Alberth Elis scoring once to make his total 8 in just 14 games. As in that game Les Girondins will be without goalkeeper Benoit Costil due to injury so 23 year old Gaëtan Poussin will again deputise. French Footy prediction: Reims 1 - Bordeaux 1
Nice V Clermont - Kicks off at 14:00 GMT
Nice are on a good run of five straight victories and a penalty shoot out Cup win over PSG. That was the first time Paris have been knocked out of the cup since April 2019. Christophe Galtier played a strong team against the Coupe De France champions but rested number one goalkeeper Walter Benitez. That could have back fired but second choice keeper Marcin Bułka, actually on loan from PSG, kept a clean sheet through the 90 minutes and saved the decisive penalty!
They now have an intriguing quarter final tie at home to Marseille on Wednesday. Whoever wins that will feel they can win the whole thing. Les Aiglons will be full of confidence for this match and are only missing two players through injury; winger Calvin Stengs and central midfielder Pablo Rosario.
Clermont had a hugely important win in their last game beating a strong Rennes side 2-1 at home. That they did it without their top goal scorer Mohamed Bayo (9 goals 2 assists) makes it all the more impressive. The goals came from forward Jordan Tell who got his first of the season and debutant Lucas Da Cunha. The winger was recently signed from Nice on loan and must have been delighted to score the winner in his first game for Les Lanciers.
Unfortunately for him Da Cunha is not eligible to play against his parent club this weekend. With Bayo also likely to be out due to an injury from the AFCON, Clermont might struggle here. French Footy prediction: Nice 2 - Clermont 0
Troyes V Metz - Kicks off at 14:00 GMT
Troyes have just one win in six league games and are 16th in the table just one point above the bottom three. Their narrow defeat last weekend was a huge disappointment given that they'd taken the lead early on through midfielder Brandon Domingues, had more possession and more shots on target than the home team. New Manager Bruno Irles has had just three matches in charge in which his side have had two narrow defeats and and 1-0 victory at Montpellier. He really needs a victory here to create some distance between his new team and Metz who sit just two places and one point below them. A defeat would see their opponents leapfrog them and very possibly push them down in to the relegation places. LESTAC are rarely beaten convincingly but they need to pick up points where they can and this is a great opportunity for them. Troyes have some good players in their team most notably midfield talisman Xavier Chavalerin.
The 30 year old Frenchman has 5 goals and 1 assist this season but is integral to how Troyes play. He leads by example, a great ball winner, has good positioning, vision and movement. I'm surprised he hasn't played for a bigger club. Troyes still have some players unavailable. Midfielder Gerson Rodriguez is suspended whilst veteran defender Adil Rami and striker Renaud Ripart are injured. Rominigue Kouame and Yoan Touzghar are back from the AFCON but may not be fit enough to play. New signings Ike Ugbo and Lebo Mothiba (both strikers) could feature.
Metz really need a result here. After their surprising and important win against Reims a few weeks ago they lost tamely last time out at home to Nice 2-0. Their lack of goals has been an issue all season and it says a lot that their joint top scorer is right back Fabien Centonze alongside striker Nicolas De Preville who are on just 4 goals each. Centonze has missed recent games through injury but should be fit to play here which is a big plus. Les Grenats are still missing important players though with De Preville, Jemerson, and N'Doram injured and influential midfielder Pape Sarr still at the AFCON. Just when Metz look dead and buried they Frederic Antonetti seems to motivate whoever he has at his disposal to get an important result. Already struggling there is no doubt that Metz have been most affected by the loss of players caused by Covid and the AFCON. Can they get something from this game to keep themselves in with a chance of getting out of trouble?
French Footy prediction: Troyes 1 - Metz 0
Strasbourg V Nantes - Kicks off at 14:00 - Live on BT Sport ESPN
Strasbourg had been on such a good run of form but were stunned by a struggling Bordeaux side last time out. Strasbourg were beaten for just the second time in eleven games 4-3. The one bright spot for Les Coureurs was the performance of Kevin Gameiro. The striker scored two impressive goals, one from the edge of the area and another from a tight angle. That’s 8 for the season now for the 34 year old.
Unfortunately the striker is injured for this game with a knee injury. Coach Julien Stéphan managed to strengthen the squad in January with the signing of 18 year old centre back Ismael Doukoure from Ligue 2 Valenciennes for £1.35 Million. It will be interesting to see if the youngster can break in to this team this season. Strasbourg are also missing centre back Alexandre Djiku, midfielder Jean Bellegarde (1 goal 2 assists) through injury and striker Habib Diallo (10 goals 2 assists) who is still at the AFCON with Senegal. That’s four key players out and could impact this result.
Nantes are having a much better season than expected and will be full of confidence after winning their last two games. Les Canaris beat Lorient 4-2 in their last league game then knocked Brest out the Cup with a 2-0 victory. The latter triumph came thanks to attacking midfielder Ludovic Blas who scored both goals. That’s now ten goals in all competitions for the 24 year old.
Antoine Kombouaré has got much more out of his team this season with much the same squad. They currently sit 10th in the league which most people wouldn’t have expected given their 18th placed finish last season. Nantes have key players back from the AFCON the most notable being winger Moses Simon who has two goals and six assists this campaign. They have no major injuries. French Footy prediction: Strasbourg 1 - Nantes 1
Rennes V Brest - Kicks off at 16:00
Rennes have only won one of their last five games and were recently knocked out of the cup by Ligue 2 Nancy. For a side that was looking the most likely to go for second place fir a large part of the season so far it’s a surprise. They have excellent players but had a shock defeat at strugglers Clermont in their last game. At times this season Bruno Genesio’s side have blown teams away and they remain the only team have beaten PSG in the league. With that in mind it’s hard to understand their fluctuating form. They didn’t bring any new players in during the January transfer window due to the confidence they have in their squad. A fact that has been reiterated by Head of Recruitment and former France International Florian Maurice. In terms of this match they are still without first choice goal keeper Alfred Gomis who is at the AFCON with Senegal winger Jeremy Doku who’s season has been blighted by injuries and midfielder Flavian Tait (2 goals 3 assists). A win here could take them from fifth to fourth and reinstate a little pressure on Nice and Marseille above them. They really need to beat their Breton rivals here.
Brest have lost their best player after selling playmaker Romain Faivre to Lyon. The 23 year old scored 8 goals and had 5 assists for Les Pirates this season. He had a good understanding with winger Franck Honorat and was a driving force behind Brest’s six games winning streak at the end of 2021. Its difficult to see the Bretons progressing without Faivre and manager Michel Der Zakarian is clearly upset by it. According to French Newspaper Le Télégramme Der Zakarian bemoaned the clubs lack of ambition and stated it wasn‘t planned to sell Faivre but the decision of the club President. None of this bodes well for this game. The Brest boss also told press thry if his team play like they did in the recent cup defeat to Nantes then “there is no possibility“ of bringing any points back from Rennes.” Whether that galvanises the team or causes more issues in the camp remains to be seen. Algerian winger Yousef Bilaili has joined from Qatar SC.
The 29 year old had a short period at Angers in 2018. Will he make his first appearance for Brest here?
French Footy prediction: Rennes 1 - Brest 0
Lille V PSG - Kicks off at 19:45
The Champions against the Champions Elect. Lille had a disappointing loss in their last game 2-0 at Brest. It’s easy to forget sometimes that Les Lillois are the reigning Ligue 1 Champions given their indifferent form. Sitting tenth at this stage of the season and out of the Coupe De France isn‘t great given last seasons triumph. They are however going well in Europe and remain a difficult team to beat. In this reverse fixture Les Dogues gave PSG a good game and led for a large part of the match. They have no injuries or suspensions to worry about so they should have a real go at Paris.
PSG continue to stroll through Ligue 1 whilst rarely getting out of third gear. They won their last two games against Brest and Reims comfortably but came unstuck in the Coup De France against Nice on Monday night. The game finished 0-0 at the Parisians's crashed out on penalties. This season will be the first time they haven’t made the final in eight years. They are cruising in the league though a full eleven points off Nice. They are missing a few players; Neymar, Ramos and Wijnaldum are injured whilst Idrissa Gueye and Abdou Diallo are still at the AFCON with Senegal. The squad is so strong that Mauricio Pochettino will be confident of another win. A draw would hardly be a disaster for them.
French Footy prediction: Lille 1 - PSG 2
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