The season opened up on Friday evening with Monaco drawing at home to Nantes 1 - 1. Manager Niko Kovač will have designs on the title so will be disappointed to not have started with a win. Lyon were lucky not to lose their opener at home to Brest. The Bretons spurned an excellent chance to go 2 - 0 up before substitute Slimani equalised. PSG did what they needed to and won at Angers 2-1. So it's the Parisians that have layed down the early marker amongst the favourites for the League. How will the rest of the league respond today?
Rennes V Lens - Kicks off at 1200 GMT. Live on BT Sport 1.
Rennes had a decent season finishing sixth in Ligue 1 and qualify for the new Europa Conference League. Up until now they have done well to keep their best players, particularly winger Jeremy Doku who had a decent Euro 2020 with Belgium, midfielder Eduardo Camavinga (reported target of Man United) and top scorer Serhou Guirassy (10 goals in 20/21). They have also added promising centre half Loïc Badé from today's opponents Lens and winger Kamaldeen Sulemana from Nordsjælland. If manager Bruno Génésio can keep his squad together until the end of August, when the transfer window shuts, the Bretons could have another good season. They will be hoping to get a bit more out of the 18 year old Camavinga who is a revelation but didn't have a great season by his standards.
It must be so difficult for clubs like Rennes who don't have a lot of money to spend. Do they buy in preparation of losing their best players or wait and hope they keep their talent for another season. Lens are in a similar position and have already lost a quality defender as mentioned above. The good news is they've made Gaël Kakuta's successful loan spell permanent by purchasing him from Amiens. Kakuta got 11 goals and 5 assists in the last campaign. Manager Franck Haise did brilliantly to get his newly promoted side to a seventh placed finish last season. His side only narrowly missed on qualifying for the Europa Conference League by one point, ironically behind Rennes. Haise will be hoping to see some progression from young Cameroonian striker Ignatius Ganago who scored seven league goals last season.
These teams are very well matched. Rennes have slightly more quality, home advantage and Loïc Badé's move in their direction could also make a difference.
Frenchfooty prediction: Rennes 2 V Lens 1.
Bordeaux V Clermont - Kicks off at 1400 GMT. Live on BT Sport 1.
Bordeaux had a disastrous 20/21 season. They finished 12th but could easily have gone down if the last days results had gone slightly differently. They also went in to administration when investment management Company King Street announced they were pulling their funding, They have since been taken over by Ex Lille owner Gerald Lopez. Given that Lopez left Lille under a cloud for financial problems doesn't really bode well. This season Les Bordelais have a new Manager in Vladimir Petković. The Bosnian-Swiss Petković was manager of the Swiss national side that just knocked France out of Euro 2020. That and winning the Coppa Italia with Lazio are the highlights of his Managerial career so far. He doesn't speak French and has no experience of the French league so this seems a slightly odd choice for a club who are in desperate need of stability. No significant signings have been made so Petković has to work with the same squad that struggled last season.
There are two bright notes regarding the playing staff. Captain Laurent Koscielny is available after missing much of last season through injury and top scorer Hwang Ui-jo (12 league goals) has not been sold. Other than that the future does not look bright for this famous club.
Clermont are on the up after just being promoted to Ligue 1 for the first time in their history. They finished second in Ligue 2 to gain automatic promotion. It has been a fantastic achievement to get Clermont this far. They are bankrolled by young Swiss owner Ahmet Schaefer who was formerly Sepp Blatter's assistant whilst he was President of Fifa. Schaefer owns two other clubs (SC Lustenau in Austria and Vendsyssel FF in Denmark) in what seems to be a similar business model to that of City Football Group (owners of Manchester City, New York City and Troyes amongst others.) The town of Clermont-Ferrand has a population of just 140,00 people with a Stadium Capacity of under 12,000 so it's incredible to see the football club in Ligue 1. They play an attractive style of football but with no obvious stars and little chance of attracting big players can they stay up? Manager Pascal Gastien has never managed in France's top division but was a player at Marseille when they won the League and Cup double in 1989. Perhaps that winning experience and team spirit will be enough. Centre forward Mohamed Bayo should be their main threat. The 23 year old scored 17 goals in Ligue 2 last season. It's going to be interesting to see how their season unfolds.
Frenchfooty prediction: Bordeaux 1 V Clermont 1.
Nice V Reims - Kicks off at 1400 GMT.
Christophe Galtier worked absolute wonders last season to win the Championship with Lille. At both Lille and Saint Etienne he seemed to get the best out of his players. There must have been a host of Clubs after him yet he chose Nice, a club with a modest squad who finished ninth. Galtier seems to be excited by the project at Nice who do have money to spend through Billionaire owner Jim Ratcliffe. Galtier has immediately looked to strengthen midfield by bringing in Pablo Rosario from PSV Eindhoven and Mario Lemina from Southampton. He has also brought in two wingers in Justin Kluivert from Roma (loan) and Calvin Stengs from AZ Alkmaar.
Presumably the wingers have been brought in to give greater service to Striker Kasper Dolberg. The 23 year old only scored 6 goals last season but showed his talent for Denmark in the Euros. He is strong and good in the air but can play with the ball at his feet too. I would bet on Dolberg scoring a lot more this season with Galtier as Coach. It's going to be fascinating to see how the Galtier factor works out at Nice.
Reims had a season to forget in 20/21 finishing 14th with a real threat of dropping to 18th on the final day. They had an awful finish to the season with four losses and one draw in their last five games. Manager David Guion left at the seasons end and has been replaced by Oscar Garcia.
It's hard to see what the thinking behind Garcia's appointment was as he doesn't seem to have had any Managerial success. He had to leave Watford due to ill health, had a bad spell in charge of Saint Etienne that only lasted a few months and was recently sacked by Celta Vigo after just a year in charge. The club seem to have made no signings of note and have sold their top scorer, Boulaye Dia to Villareal. This could be a long season for Stade De Reims and I just can't see them staying up.
Frenchfooty prediction: Nice 1 V Reims 0
Saint Etienne V Lorient - Kicks off at 1400 GMT.
Claude Puel has given Saint Etienne some stability since taking over in 2019. Les Verts finished 11th last season. Puel's pragmatic approach has not been great to watch and it's hard to see that philosophy changing. This Saint Etienne team do not score a lot of goals.
Their top scorers last season were Denis Bouanga and Wahbi Khazri who got just seven apiece. As yet there have been no moves in the transfer market to address this. They will be hard to beat but another mid table finish is likely. It's a shame for such an iconic club who have had some wonderful attacking teams in the past.
Lorient were one of many clubs who could easily have been dragged in to the 18th placed relegation play off place last season. Three wins in their last five games was enough to keep them safe.
As yet they have made no significant signings but have kept top scorer Terem Moffi. The 22 year olds 14 league goals is what kept Lorient in the division. They will need him on song again this year but even he may not be enough to keep them up.
Frenchfooty prediction: Saint Etienne 1 V Lorient 0.
Strasbourg V Angers - Kicks off at 1400 GMT.
Like Lorient, Strasbourg could have easily have finished 18th and faced the play off to stay up on the final day of the 21/22 season. They have some good players like veteran midfielder Dimitri Lienard and strike pairing Ludovic Ajorque (16 league goals in 20/21) and Habib Diallo (9 league goals in 20/21). They have added to their attack by bringing back Kevin Gameiro from Atletico madrid. Gameiro started his Career with Strasbourg and may finish it there. At 34 he has lost some of his pace but it's still a quality signing and Les Coureurs shouldn't be short of goals this season.
They have made changes at the heart of their defence too. Mitrovic has been sold to Getafe, Mohamed Simakan to Leipzig and Lamine Kone has been released. They have brought in Lucas Perrin in from Marseille on loan so it looks like Perrin will partner Djiku at the back. Strasbourg have quality but their squad looks a little light. New Manager Julien Stéphan will be hoping he doesn't get injuries to his best players or it could be a difficult season. The former Rennes Coach is highly regarded in France so it will be interesting to see how he does in Alsace.
Angers had a 13th placed finish last year but were only 4 points off the much contested 18th relegation play off place. They didn't score a lot of goals and had a poor finish to the season, four losses and one win in their last five games. Their top scorer was midfielder Angelo Fulgini (pictured) who scored 10 goals in all Competitions.
None of their Strikers were prolific but as yet no one has come in to strengthen the attack. Instead the black and whites have looked to strengthen their midfield with Batista Mendy from Nantes and Azzedine Ounahi from US Avranches. Perhaps new Manager Gerard Baticle will get a new Striker in with the money made from selling Left back Rayan Nouri to Wolves (£10M). This will be a challenging new role for Baticle who was assistant Manager at Lyon for 10 years but never the Head Coach. He will do well to keep Angers up this season.
Frenchfooty prediction: Strasbourg 1 V Angers 0
Metz V Lille - Kicks off at 1600 GMT. Live on BT Sport 1.
Metz may struggle to improve on their 10th place finish of last season. So many teams finished within a few points of each other that Metz were one loss away from finishing much lower. They are another side that didn't score many goals and struggled when Striker Ibrahima Niane got injured. Niane only played ten games but scored 6 goals in that time. The problem is no one else weighed in with a significant number of goals and the 22 year old finished top scorer.
Frédéric Antonetti has a lot of experience of managing in the French League but doesn't have a great squad. Like so many other clubs transfer business has been slow. They have recruited a few young players from lower leagues but no one that obviously strengthens them. 20 year old Striker Lenny Joseph has come from Le Puy but it's unlikely he'll add many goals. Winger Opa Nguette makes good runs on the ball and wins a lot of free kicks but his final ball is often lacking. It looks like another season of relying on the talent of Niane but he'll need to avoid injury in this campaign if they are going to improve.
Lille were magnificent last season and ran out deserved Champions of Ligue 1. They have lost their inspirational Manager Christophe Galtier and their brilliant Sporting Director Luis Campos. They have also lost some quality players; midfielder Boubakary Soumaré, winger Luiz Araújo and Keeper Mike Maignan. They still have a good squad but losing Maignan is the most significant loss to them. He was excellent last season and a key part of winning close games. The issue is replacing him as Les Dogues are in financial trouble. The problem new Manager Jocelyn Gourvennec has is more players could leave before the end of the month, when the transfer window closes. Gourvennec has stated that he doesn't plan on changing too much tactically as the way Lille played under Galtier was so effective. He has started life at Lille well with a 1-0 win over PSG in the Trophée des Champions. That was unexpected and may buy the Breton some time.
He has good players at his disposal, if they stay. Botman, Fonte and Djalo were excellent at the back last year and there are goals right through the team. The front pairing of Jonathan David (13 league goals in 20/21) (and Burak Yilmaz (16 league goals) should have plenty of goals between them again if they get the service.
The lack of quality Goalkeeper and the financial issues are a worry for this team that performed miracles last year. I cannot see them defending their title and they will do well to qualify for Europe.
Frenchfooty prediction: Metz 1 V Lille 1
Montpellier V Marseille - Kicks off at 1945. Live on BT Sport 1.
The final match of the opening weekend could be a good one. Montpellier have swapped Managers with Brest replacing Michel Der Zakarian with Olivier Dall'Oglio. Dall'Oglio now has a much better squad than he had at Brest particularly with his front three of Gaetan Laborde (16 goals - 8 assists), Stephy Mavididi (9 goals) and Andy Delort (15 goals - 9 assists).
If they keep these three exciting players they could push on from their 8th placed 20/21 finish. Veteran Centre back Vitorino Hilton has retired at the astonishing age of 43. La Paillade have brought in two replacements in the young Brazilian Thuler from Flamengo and Mamadou Sakho from Crystal Palace. Montpellier are a decent side that could push for Europe if Dall'Oglio can get a bit more consistency out of them.
Marseille have been the busiest club in the League regarding transfers. Ten new players have come in which has led to some pundits suggesting this will disrupt the squad. Not all the players will immediately get in to the first eleven though. Young players like Nadir and Seghir are young players for the future whilst Goalkeeper Pau López will be understudy to Steve Mandanda. Centre back Leo Balerdi was already at Marseille last season and his loan has just been made permanent. It will be interesting to see who Manager Jorge Sampaoli picks as his central defensive partnership given the amount of players he has for that position. As well as Balerdi, Wiiliam Saliba has joined on loan from Arsenal and Luan Peres has come in from Santos. Given that Alvaro Gonzalez and Duje Caleta-Car are still at the Club who will start? I'm guessing it will be Balerdi and Saliba as they are Sampaoli's signings. We shall see. Sampaoli and Chairman Pablo Longoria have also strengthened midfield with the arrivals of Guendouzi from Arsenal and the Brazilian Gerson from Flamengo. 22 year old Guendouzi had a good start at Arsenal before falling out of favour under Mikel Arteta. He should bring a lot of energy to the midfield and could be a good signing if he buys in to Sampaoli's attacking style of play. Unfortunately the young Frenchman is injured and may not feature until September. It will be interesting to see how Gerson adapts to French football after unsuccessful spells at Roma and Fiorentina. He is said to be another energetic midfielder with good skill on the ball and was thought to be signing for Barcelona. If he is successful this will be a Coup for Longoria who has completely backed his Manager in the transfer market.
Most important for the Phocéen is to get Polish Striker Arkadiusz Milik fit and in the side. Milik was breath of fresh air when he arrived on loan from Napoli in January last year. He really looks to be the prolific Striker Marseille have been missing for years. He scored 9 goals in 15 games and created a good partnership with Dimitri Payet. Milik is carrying a knee injury so may not start today. With Valere Germain being let go this summer it could well be Dario Benedetto who leads the attack against Montpellier this evening. If Marseille are to be successful this season they'll need Milik and would be prudent to sign him on a permanent deal ASAP. Jorge Sampaoli now has the players he wants to fit in to his all out attacking style. It will certainly be exciting, will it take time to work?
Frenchfooty prediction: Montpellier 2 V Marseille 2
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