Lens V Reims - Kicks off at 2000 on Friday 1 October
Coming off the back off a midweek home loss to Strasbourg, Lens became the first team to beat Marseille this season. Franck Haise’s side are playing some exciting, attacking football. They were unlucky to lose the match at home to Strasbourg after a dubious sending off for Kevin Danso and coming close to scoring several times. Instead of getting in to any kind of rut they went to the Velodrome last Sunday night and out attacked one of the most attacking teams in the League, if not Europe. Haise’s decision to leave out last season's top scorer Gael Kakuta and in form wing back Jonathan Claus were completely justified. Frankowski was moved from the left wing to the right with David da Costa replacing him on the left. Lens won an early penalty that was converted by Florian Sotoca. That was Sotoca’s second pen, and goal, of the season. Later in the half Frankowski cut in from the right and curled in a lovely shot from just inside the area to make it 2 - 0. That was the Polish International's first of the season.
Franck Haise would have been disappointed to see his team lose that lead and go in for half time level. Although Les Sangs est Ors rode their luck a little in the second half it was Winger and Substitute Wesley Said who broke free in the 71st minute to score the winner. This was a brave and impressive performance from the Northerners and they deserve their second place in the table. Kevin Danso should come back in to the side after his one match suspension.
Every week I predict Reims will lose and often they prove me wrong. They did so again last weekend with a 3 - 1 home win over Nantes. After a tight and unremarkable first half Les rouges et blancs took the lead on 51 minutes when Thomas Foket headed in from a corner. It was the Belgian International's first goal for the Club since arriving from Gent in 2018. Nantes equalised but from there it was all about one of Reims' 19 year old attacking sensations. Hugo Ekitike and N'Dri Philippe Koffi are both products of Reims' second team and broke in to the first team this year. They can both play on the wing or up front and have been impressive this season. They rarely start together and often one is substituted for the other. In this case Ekitike came on for Koffi on 70 minutes. The youngster, who was born in Reims, put his side in front two minutes later, turning in a cross from within the six yard box. Just six minutes later he had his second of the match and third of the season when his deflected shot from distance went in.
Ekitike had some luck with that goal but probably deserved it for his willingness to attack. I wonder if Manager Óscar García will be tempted to start with both Koffi and Ekitike at some point? That was Reims' second goal of the season and just their Second home win in 16 attempts. Reim's will be without defender Andrew Gravillon for this one as he is suspended. The summer loanee from Inter Milan has started every game for Garcia so will be a miss. Stade De Reims' victory over Nantes was a big win. However as they are away from home to one of the most in form sides in the league, I'm once again backing them to lose.
Frenchfooty prediction: Lens 2 V Reims 0
Montpellier V Strasbourg - Kicks off at 1600 on Saturday 2nd October
Montpellier had a three match unbeaten run stopped at PSG last weekend. La Paillade had chances to score, most notably a long range curling effort from Mavididi and a header from Germain. Ultimately however they were well beaten by an impressive Paris side. Poor marking led to Paris's second goal and Goalkeeper Jonas Omlin should have done better with the shot that was right at him. Olivier Dall'Oglio has proved a lot of people wrong after losing his top goal scorers Andy Delort and Gaetan Laborde at the end of the summer transfer window. Before the Paris game they'd had one win and two draws scoring six goals in that time. Mavididi, Savanier and Mollet have plenty of movement and creativity, supporting hard working loan striker Valere Germain.
After losing to Paris this becomes a big game and one Montpellier really need to win. They will be without Brazilian defender Matheus Thuler who has a thigh injury. Former Liverpool and Crystal Palace defender Mamadou Sakho may be fit to replace him.
Strasbourg were coming off two wins but were well beaten at home to Lille last week. I was surprised to see joint top scorer and arguably Strasbourg's most effective player this season, Ludovic Ajorque, start on the bench. Ajorque has three goals and four assists this season and scored the winner at Lens last weekend.
Kevin Gameiro was preferred to him up front to partner Diallo who is also on three goals. Whilst Strasbourg controlled the possession in this game they didn't create enough and gave up a lot of chances to the Champions. Les Coureurs were victims of their own downfall when centre back Alexander Djiku failed to deal with a ball in his own box and lost it to Timothy Weah. That led to Lille opening the scoring. Strasbourg Goalkeeper Matz Sels made some good saves throughout the game but couldn't stop his team going 2 - 0 down. Coach Julien Stéphan saw his team claw one back when substitute Ibrahima Sissoko smashed in a Dimitri Liénard corner. Liénard has creativity but lacks pace so is wasted playing at Left Back. Playing the midfielder out of position shows Strasbourg's lack of depth in their squad and I'm shocked they didn't bring a left back in during the summer. They have the Strikers to score in Diallo, Ajorque and Gameiro but long term, I don't see the five at the back system working for them. They really need to recruit in January. Midfielder Adrien Thomasson ruined any chances Strasbourg might have had of a comeback against Lille with an awful challenge on Onana in the 79th minute. He received a straight red and will miss this game at Montpellier. This is a hard game to call. Will the winner come down to Montpellier's creativity or Strasbourg's stubbornness and quality up front? It could depend on who scores first.
Frenchfooty prediction: Montpellier 2 V Strasbourg 1
Nice V Brest - Kicks off at 20:00 on Saturday 2nd October - Live on BT Sport Sport Extra 1
Nice got back to winning ways after a draw and a first loss of the season. Manager Christophe Galtier must have been confident of a victory last weekend at struggling Saint Etienne. They dispatched Les Verts convincingly 3 - 0. Striker Amine Gouiri, who missed two penalties in the last two games, opened the scoring on 15 minutes with a deflected free kick. Winger Calvin Stengs, deputising for the injured Justin Kluivert, then got his first of the season with a tidy left foot finish after being released by Khéphren Thuram's clever ball.
Andy Delort wrapped things up late on with his second goal for Nice after his move from Montpellier. This was an impressive performance and shows how good Nice are on their day. They have bigger tests to come with games against Lyon and Marseille coming up but they have a well balanced, organised side that breaks quickly with pace and they have plenty of goal scorers in their team. Les Aiglons will once again be without Winger Justin Kluivert (Muscle injury), Midfielder Hichem Boudaoui (back) and possibly Striker Kasper Dolberg who has missed recent games with a knee injury. There is a chance Dolberg could play but I would think Galtier won't take any chances with him against an opponent he'll be confident of beating.
Brest are coming off the worse result of their season after losing to one of only two other teams in the League yet to win. Stade Brestois are on an awful run of form having not won since April. Les Pirates had a good chance early on against fellow strugglers Metz but Romain Del Castillo put his header over the bar. As expected being the home team, Brest had more of the possession and chances but went down 1 - 0 after 26 minutes. They had to wait until the 68th minute to get back in to the game with a debatable penalty decision. Franck Honorat was taken out in the area but the ball had already been won. Romain Faivre scored his second of the season from the spot to square things up.
Just five minutes later though a deflected shot flew in past Marco Bizot and Brest couldn't get back on level terms. Michel Der Zakarian's team are now in massive trouble with only Saint Etienne below them. With players like Honorat and Faivre you can see them picking up points and they are rarely heavily beaten. I don't see them getting anything at a quality Nice side however.
Frenchfooty prediction: Nice 3 V Brest 1
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