French Football received some good news this week as Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the end of certain Covid restrictions relating to football matches. From Monday the 14th March there will be no more requirement to having to wear a mask to football games. Vaccine passports will no longer need to be shown at French football grounds either. It will be nice to have a little more normality in the French domestic game in what has been such a turbulent season so far. Covid 19, extreme crowd violence, limited crowds (due to Covid) and the loss of players to the AFCON have all contributed to the upheaval we have seen in Ligue 1 this year. A turbulent season in what is an ever turbulent Europe. Hopefully football can provide a bit of distraction this weekend.
Lorient v Lyon - Kicks off at 20:00 GMT - Friday 4th March - Live on BT Sport 3
Lorient got a hugely important win last weekend at Breton rivals Brest. January signing Ibrahima Koné‘s 2nd goal in 4 games was enough to take the points.
The Malien International scored just three minutes after coming on. It’s a shame that the 22 year old striker could miss this game with an ankle injury. Midfielder Bonke Innocent could also be out Earlier in the game Brest had a man sent off for pushing Terem Moffi in the back when the latter’s pace got him through on goal. From then on Les Merlus dominated the game and were well worth their second victory in 19 matches. It was a vital three points that dragged them out of the bottom three to 16th place and 2 points over the bottom four teams in the table. Lorient will be without defender Julien Laporte due to suspension whilst midfielder Fabien Lemoine and forward Stephane Diarra are still struggling with injury.
Lyon are coming off a very disappointing result, losing at home to Lille 1-0 last Sunday. In fairness they didn’t play badly. They dominated possession and created a host of chances; 22 shots 8 of which were on target. Dembele, Faivre and Ekambi all came close in the first half but Les Gones found themselves 1-0 down before the break. Centre back Thiago Mendes slipped at a crucial moment missing a cross that led to Lille scoring. Les Lyonnais continued to play well in the second half with plenty of individual skill and team movement off the ball. Forward Tino Kadewere had a good chance but was thwarted by a last ditch tackle. Lyon thought they’d equalised late on when Lucas Paqueta caught the Keeper in possession. Unfortunately for him and his team Paqueta was adjudged to have fouled the Lille Goalie so the score remained 1-0. A bad result as Lille overtook Lyon in the table and the latter slipped from 9th to 10th. A place in Europe is a real battle now for Peter Bosz’s side. There was a lot to take from the performance however and they they should be confident of getting something here. Centre back Jason Denayer is a doubt for this game with a knee injury.
French Footy prediction: Lorient 0 - Lyon 2
Lens V Brest - Kicks off at 16:00 GMT - Saturday 5th March
Lens are now three games unbeaten and showing the form that made them look like real contenders for a European place earlier in the season. They came from a goal down to win at Angers thus moving up to 6th place, overtaking Lyon, Monaco and Nantes. who all dropped points. Les Sangs Et Ors did not have things all their own way at all in this match but a crazy seven minute period changed the whole game. Angers had taken the lead but after 69 minutes but shortly after had a player sent off for diving. Lens equalised 4 minutes later through a ridiculous own goal then scored the winner on 76 minutes. Jonathan Clauss’ cross shot flew in to the top corner.
That was the wing backs 2nd goal in as many games. He now has 4 for the season to go with his 9 assists. Lens are still likely to be missing forwards Corentin Jean and Wesley Said through injury.
Like Lyon, Brest also had a disappointing 1-0 home defeat last weekend. As mentioned above it was their struggling Breton neighbours Lorient who beat them. The game really changed on 29 minutes when centre back and Captain Brendan Chardonnet was sent off for pushing Terem Moffi in the back. With 10 men Les Brestois struggled and didn’t have a shot on target throughout the game. Things might have been worse for Les Pirates had their Dutch goalkeeper Marco Bizot not been more alert.
Brest are having a topsy turvy season. They were looking like relegation battlers then had a fantastic run of 8 games unbeaten including 6 consecutive wins in November and December. Now they are a bit inconsistent. As fed up as Manager Michel Der Zakarian was after the game he can’t be too happy with where his team are at this stage of the season. They are 12th in the table with 10 points separating them from the bottom four. Chardonnet is obviously suspended for this game whilst right back Ronael-Pierre Gabriel is injured.
French Footy prediction: Lens 2 - Brest 1
Nice V PSG - Kicks off at 20:00 GMT - Saturday 5th March - Live on BT Sport 1
Nice drew 0-0 at in form Strasbourg last weekend which at least stopped the latter overtaking them in the table. Les Aiglons were outplayed for large sections of the game partly due to the sending off of influential centre back Dante. The Brazilian saw red after 48 minutes for a second yellow card. A point at Strasbourg with ten men for half the game is nothing to be sniffed at and goalkeeper goalkeeper Walter Benítez was a big reason they won that point. The Argentinian made several important saves to keep his side in the game. Nice remain in third place but have Strasbourg and Rennes really breathing down their necks. They could do with a win here but come up against the Champions Elect who have only lost two league games all season. Christophe Galtier has got a lot out of this team however.
They are a much better side since he took over in the summer and have a Coupe De France final to look forward to after beating Versailles (from the fourth tier of French Football) 2-0 the week. It was a comfortable win with goals from Amine Gouiri and Kasper Dolberg. Nice will go into this game with confidence after drawing 0-0 at the Parc Des Princes twice already this season. Once in the reverse league fixture and again in the earlier Cup round which they eventually won on penalties. Dante and Justin Kluivert, sent off from the bench against Strasbourg for berating the fourth official, have served their suspensions so will be back for this game. Therefore Nice only have Jordan Amavi and Youcef Atal missing through injury.
PSG went 1-0 down for the second game running against Saint Étienne last weekend. After a poor start in which they conceded early Paris recovered to redress the balance. Kylian Mbappe latched on to a Messi through ball to equalise on 42 minutes. Just after the break he scored again. Again it was Lionel Messi who set him up dribbling in to the area and sliding in a short pass for Mbappe to finish. The striker, now on 14 goals for the season, then turned provider. An audacious pass with the outside of his right boot picked out Danilo at the back post to head in for the third. With Neymar JR later hitting the post PSG were far more convincing than at Nantes the week before. There is little doubt they will win Ligue 1 this season. Mauricio Pochettino's team are now 15 points clear and rarely drop points even when playing poorly.
How they will do in the Champions League remain to be seen but they are well poised taking a 1-0 lead in to Wednesday's round of 16 2nd leg at Real Madrid. As ever when it gets to the knockout stages of Europe's biggest prize PSG will have one eye on that tie when they play Nice this weekend. No one will want to get injured so it will be interesting to see if that plays in to Nice's hands. Added to that Kylian Mbappé is suspended for the Nice game. Midfielder Leandro Paredes is still out with a groin injury and long term injured players Sergio Ramos and Ander Herrera are unlikely to feature.
French Footy prediction: Nice 0 - PSG 0
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