PSG V Rennes- Kicks off at 20:00 - Live on BT Sport 2
PSG demolished Ligue 1 Champions Lille in their own backyard last week. They were 1-0 up in 10 minutes through Portuguese midfielder Danilo Pereira and ran out 5-1 winners. Pereira later got a second whilst Kimpembe, Messi and Mbappe got one each. That was just Messi’s second Ligue 1 goal since signing in the summer and Mbappe’s eleventh.
The Frenchman’s goal was the final one of the night and the best. He curled the ball in to the far corner of the goal from outside the box. Despite having players out injured Mauricio Pochettino had a strong first eleven to pick and they just had too much for Lille. This is a big week for Paris as they face the only side to beat them in Ligue 1 this season then play Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16, 1st leg on Wednesday. Will Pochettino rest players for this game in preference of the Madrid game? Possibly. Mbappe perhaps may start on the bench. Attacking midfielder Angel Di Maria (3 goals 3 assists) is a doubt with a calf injury whilst Gigi Wijnaldum and Neymar Jr are definitely out with ankle injuries. Striker Mauro Icardi remains out with a foot injury. Idrissa Gueye and Abdou Diallo could feature after winning the African Cup of Nations for Senegal in Cameroon.
Rennes had an important win last week over Breton rivals Brest. The 2-0 victory came courtesy of goals from striker Gaetan Laborde (8 league goals) and winger and Martin Terrier (11 league goals). Les Rennais dominated possession, created a lot of chances and limited Brest to a single shot on goal. A good performance and a much needed win after a period of fluctuating results: knocked out of the Coupe De France on penalties by Ligue 2 Nancy, a 1-0 loss at Lens, a 6-0 thrashing of Bordeaux then a 2-1 defeat at struggling Clermont. Les Rouges et Blancs looked for a large part of the season like the most likely team to finish second but that patchy recent form has seen them slip to fifth. The fight for European places has become so contested over the last two months so Bruno Genesio's team need to put a run of positive results together to keep them in the higher echelons of the table. Can they repeat the performance that saw them beat Paris 2-0 back in October? They have first choice goalkeeper back from the AFCON but midfielder Flavian Tait (2 goals and 3 assists) and winger Jeremy Doku are injured. With their front three of Bourigeaud, Laborde and Terrier though Rennes definitely have enough to cause the Parisians problems.
French Footy prediction: PSG 1 - Rennes 1
Montpellier V Lille - Kicks off at 16:00 Saturday 12th February
Montpellier are another team with really fluctuating results. An impressive run of form in December saw them pushing for a European place but of late they've lost their way. They've won just once in four league games, losing the other three. They've been knocked out of the Cup by Marseille (on penalties) and last weekend's loss was to bottom of the table Saint Etienne. La Paillaide had started well with Elye Wahi giving them the lead with his sixth goal of the season. In the second half they failed to deal with Saint Etienne's relentless attacks and lost three goals in eleven minutes late on. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the loss is that Montpellier only managed to shots on target. The good news for manager Olivier Dall'Oglio has Captain and attacking midfielder Teji Savanier (5 goals 6 assists) available for this game after his suspension.
He will come in for the injured Stephy Mavididi (8 goals 3 assists).
As mentioned above Lille were destroyed last weekend 5-1 at home by PSG. Les Lillois are not a bad side but they look nothing like the Ligue 1 Champions. On their day they look like they can be beat anyone but they haven't managed any consistency this season.
It was always going to be difficult for manager Jocelyn Gourvennec to replicate what Christophe Galtier did with Lille last season.
Particularly as they lost goalkeeper Mike Maignan to Milan in the summer. Maignan's replacement, Croatian Ivo Grbic, has not been up to the same standard and made a glaring error for PSG's first goal last weekend. Lille really need a result here to stay in the hunt for Europe. Montpellier are four places higher than Lille but have only two points more. That is how tight things are. Les Dogues have no suspensions or injuries to worry about but this game is still so difficult to predict.
French Footy prediction: Lille 1 - Montpellier 1
Lyon V Nice - Kicks off at 20:00 Saturday 12th February - Live on BT Sport
These two sides had bad defeats last weekend. Lyon lost 2-0 at Monaco who then leapfrogged them in the table. Les Lyonnais were caught cold by Monaco’s quick attacks and found themselves 1-0 down after just two minutes. At 2-0 down they should have had a penalty but it wasn’t their day and they were ultimately well beaten. In the post match press conference manager Peter Bosz was scathing against his players. The Dutchman bemoaned his players lack of mentality “It’s nothing to do with tactics, it’s in the head, we didn’t have the mentality to win this match. We lost the game in the first half, fortunately Lopes was very good in goal in the first half otherwise we lose maybe 3 or 4 - 0!” Clearly the under pressure Dutchman is not happy with the application of his players. New signings, midfielder Tanguy Ndombele and attacking midfielder Romain Faivre, came on at half time but couldn’t make the difference needed.
I wonder if Bosz will start with the duo here. Lyon have been missing some key players who recently returned to training; defenders Damien Da Silva and Jason Denayer and forward Tino Kadewere could feature. Striker Karl Toko Ekambi (11 goals 4 assists in all competitions) should be available after returning from the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon. Midfielder Houessem Aouar remains out with a thigh injury.
After five straight league wins and knocking PSG out of the Cup I expected Nice to beat Clermont comfortably last weekend. However they lost at home 1-0 to a struggling Clermont side. Les Nicois were quick on the break but couldn’t create many chances. They had just three shots on target. It’s such a disappointing result and sees Les Aiglons drop from second to third. Nice then hosted Marseille on Wednesday night in the Coupe De France and demolished their opponents 4-1. After going 1-0 down early Les Aiglons reacted brilliantly. Nice gave up most of the possession but countered quickly. Goals from Amine Gouiri, Justin Kluivert (x2) and Andy Delort took Christophe Galtier's side through to the semi finals where they will play National 2 team Versailles. National 2 is the fourth tier of French football so Nice are clearly favourites to get to the final and with PSG and Marseille now out I would say for the tournament. Nice will again be missing first choice goalkeeper Walter Benitez due to Covid-19 but Marcin Bułka has already deputised for him capably recently. They will also be without left back Jordan Amavi.
French Footy prediction: Lyon 1 - Nice 1
N'dombele deja MOM. Ca promet!