Lorient V Monaco - Kick off at 2000 - Friday 13 August. Live on BT Sport 2.
Lorient’s draw at Saint Etienne last week wasn’t a bad result. They‘re off the mark with a point away from home. I still think Lorient will struggle this season and Manager Christophe Pellissier has yet to see any signings come in other than Brazilian defender Igor Carioca. Pellissier still has Striker Terem Moffi at his disposal despite a lot of interest from bigger clubs. The young Nigerian will be essential to Lorient's survival hopes if he stays. The Bretons will tonight have a stiffer test than last weekend against Niko Kovač's Monaco.
Monaco will have expected to win their opening game against Nantes last week. Particularly when they went 1 - 0 up through Gerson Martins. Poor defending from a corner let Nantes equalise and Les Monegasques couldn't make the most of their chances in a game they dominated. Monaco have the quality to cause most teams problems though. New striker Myron Boadu was preferred to Ben Yedder to partner Kevin Volland up front last week. Will last season's top scorer, Yedder, start this evening? Monaco have a big game coming up on Thursday in the Champions League play off at home to Shaktar Donetsk. The match will be the first of two legs but Monaco will be desperate to win the tie and progress to the group stages. They cannot take this Ligue 1 match lightly though. It's very early days but they need to win here so they are not playing catch up with Paris. Especially after the weeks events.
Frenchfooty prediction: Lorient 0 v Monaco 1
Lille V Nice - Kick off at 1600 - Saturday 14 August.
Lille drew at Metz last weekend but showed real fight to pull back a 3 - 1 deficit. Burak Yilmaz did brilliantly to force an equalising own goal in the 7th minute of stoppage time.
New Lille Manager Jocelyn Gourvennec will be hoping that this game isn't a sign of things to come in terms of shipping goals. The Breton will be keen to sign a new keeper before the transfer window closes on 31 August. The team spirit still seems to be as good as it was last season which Les Dogues will need if they are going to push for Europe and not be the Champions League whipping boys.
Nice had a quiet start to their Campaign with a 0-0 home draw with Reims. Christophe Galtier's new team dominated the match and should have won the game. They played well in patches though, moving the ball nicely. This is a work in progress for Galtier and he'll be hoping for a few more signings before the end of August.
These are two sides that have quality, want to play attractive, attacking football but are maybe just a few players short of pushing for Champions League places. I was surprised to see Kasper Dolberg start on the bench last week. He seems to be Nice's best Goal scoring option. It's going to be interesting to see how Galtier sets up his new team against his former.
Frenchfooty prediction: Lile 2 V Nice 2.
PSG V Strasbourg - Kicks off at 2000 - Saturday 14 August.. Live on BT Sport 2.
Well he's arrived. Lionel Messi is a Paris Saint Germain player. He is unlikely to play in this game as he is not match fit but he will paraded in front of the fans before kick off. PSG as a Club is on a complete high after completing the biggest signing in their history let alone their other new players. Paris started with an expected win at newly promoted Troyes. It was a close game but there were many positives to be taken for head coach Mauricio Pochettino. New signings Wijnaldum and Hakimi got through 90 minutes unscathed with the latter actually scoring the winner on his league debut.
Pochettino won't be happy with how quickly and easily they conceded but should be pleased with how they responded with two goal in two minutes. Marquee signings Gianluigi Donnarumma and Sergio Ramos were not included in the squad so it will be interesting to see if they feature this weekend. Ramos is carrying a calf injury and it's uncertain when he'll be available. Donnarruma has been rested after his exertions at Euro 2020 but when he is named in the squad will he replace Navas in goal automatically? PSG have a lot of quality players to come back in to the squad either resting after the Euros or from injury. Verratti, Di Maria, Marquinhos, Gueye and Neymar Jr are all yet to return. That's a daunting prospect for the rest of the league even without Messi. No matter who starts on Saturday evening they should feel confident of winning.
Strasbourg had an afternoon to forget in their opening loss at home to Angers last weekend. The mood was fairly buoyant with fans returning to the Stade de la Meinau, an emotional return for forward Kevin Gameiro and a new Manager in the highly rated Julien Stéphan. Angers ruined the party though with a 2 - 0 win. We should see a reaction from Strasbourg here but it's unlucky for them that they go straight in to an away game against the favourites for the league. It may take time for Stéphan to get things going in Alsace, especially if he doesn't get more of his own signings in. The revolution is unlikely to start this weekend though.
Frenchfooty prediction: PSG 2 V Strasbourg 1
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