Dermot is counting on home domination this week with his 11/1 treble
Ligue 1 will take a break for the much maligned World Cup 2022 in Qatar. PSG and Lens will be guaranteed to be in the Champions League spots going into the break. Two of those in the chasing pack meet in a clash of 4th and 5th when Monaco host rivals Marseille in the principality. That games rounds out game week 14 which sees a lot of heavy favourites playing a home.
The bookmakers seem to have caught up on Ligue 1 as the pricing for this week is markedly lower than what would be expected. A home treble of Rennes, Lens and Lille pays best priced less than 2/1. That’s not to say those games can’t be targeted as all three teams feature below.
Lens Vs Clermont
Sat 12th 16:00 GMT
Lens are are five points clear in 2nd place in Ligue 1 with the same difference to leaders PSG. The home side are a perfect 7 wins from 7 at Stade Bollaert-Delelis. They demolished a well fancied Toulouse, not allowing them to get into the game at all. Clermont play a different style and will be happy enough to sit back. Les Lanciers will still be without Maxime Gonalons which should allow Seko Fofana to dominate in midfield. A 2-0 or 3-0 win for the home side is expected, making the -1 handicap the play here.
Rennes Vs Toulouse
Sat 12th 20:00 GMT
Rennes have had only 5 cleans sheets in 20 games (Ligue 1 & Europa League) this season. Given they are 3rd in the league and a clear 2nd in the Europa League shows that they are still an attacking force to be reckoned with. They haven’t reached the heights of last season in which they had four 6-0 victories at home. Martin Terrier will be out to show Didier Deschamps that his omission from the France World Cup squad was a mistake.
Toulouse lost their last 2 games and one would expect that to extend to 3 games here. They have a very tidy and patient style of football. This style works well against the sides that are less technically gifted. Where they have struggled badly is when trying to outplay sides that are technically better than them. That should be the case against Rennes. One could argue that this is another handicap pick given how Les Violets played at Lens but the home sides defence is far weaker. Rennes to race into an early lead with Toulouse getting a later goal back in this both teams to score with a home win selection.
Lille Vs Angers
Sun 13th 14:00 GMT
Lille have now become a solid team in terms of both attack and defence. They should have beaten both Lyon and Rennes but unfortunately only came away with a loss and a draw. There shouldn’t be any mistake in this game however. Angers are a bad side and things don’t look like they’ll improve anytime soon, having lost their last six. They may have scored 6 but they have conceded 15 in those games. Jonathan David, Remy Cabella and Jonathan Bamba will look to increase that goals conceded record. There’s a temptation to go for -2 but the -1 handicap is the more profitable play.
Smart Bets
Lens to Win -1 @ 6/5 (1pt win)
Rennes to Win & BTTS @ 2/1 (2pt win)
Lille to Win -1 @ 20/21 (3pt win)
Above in treble (best priced): 11/1 (1pt win)
