Dermo has a 17/1 treble which includes the Friday night game in Alsace
The Coupe le Ligue final between holders Nantes and newly promoted Toulouse is the biggest draw in French football this weekend. It gives Nantes a reprieve from the relegation battle they find themselves in whilst it will be the icing on the cake for Les Violets return to Ligue 1. As a result of the Coupe final on Saturday, there is only one league game on that day with the official game week ending on Wednesday. Win, lose or draw, the aforementioned Nantes travel to Brest in a massive game at the foot of the table. As with many leagues now, a lot of games are turning into glorified training sessions with a number of sides lacking something to play for. The opening selection is one of the few who will be battling for the full 90 minutes.
Strasbourg Vs Lyon
Fri 28th 20:00
Strasbourg were a bogey side for the column last week and whilst “hingsight is foresight for a gobshite”, backing a team with nothing to play for off a bad result was a poor call on my behalf. This week looks an ideal spot to get things back on track when Le Racing host Lyon. Lyon’s form has been better than their on field performances allude to and they will be smarting after a last minute loss to Marseille in ‘Le Olympico” last week. Laurent Blanc’s charges are too untrustworthy to back to win any game though. The hope is that after last weeks annihilation of surprise packages Reims, Frederic Antonetti’s side finally remember and believe they are the same side as last season. If this game was 12 months ago the home side would probably be 4/6 favourites. Given they have pretty much the same side as then, 2/1 for a home win seems pretty good value.
Troyes Vs Nice
Sun 30th 14:00
Troyes are as good as relegated being 10pts from safety having not won since the second day of 2023. They finished the game last week in heartbreaking fashion, taking the lead in the 92nd minute only to give up an equaliser 4 minutes later. For a team on such a bad run (W0-D4-L11 in last 15) they do tend to score. 10 of the last 15 have seen both teams scoring. For Nice, the honeymoon period for Dider Digard is well and truly over. They have not won any of their last 7 games and have been knocked out of the Conference League play-offs by Swiss side Basel in that run also. Even with injuries to key attackers Diop and Pepe, they should find the net against Ligue 1’s most porous defence.
Rennes v Angers
Sun 30th 14:00
Having been relatively competitive over the past 4 games, Angers awful season went from bad to worse on Thursday when FIFA hit Le SCO with a transfer ban over Ilyes Chetti’s move from Esperance Tunis. Just to rub salt in the wounds this is the same Ilyes Chetti who was handed a four month suspended sentence last month for sexual assault. Any result other than a win will confirm the away sides relegation to Ligue 2. How manager Alexandre Dujuex motivates his team for this game is beyond me. The last thing any team wants to do is let Bruno Genesio’s team get into a rhythm early in a game. Whilst not as good as last season Rennes have a top 3 home record whilst the visitors have the division’s worst away record. The home should win easily and -2 on the handicap being over 5/2 is too big to ignore given the situation.
Smart Bets:
Strasbourg To Win @ 2/1 (1pt win)
Troyes Vs Nice BTTS @ 7/8 (1pt win)
Rennes to Win -2 @ 13/5 (3pt win)
Above in treble (best priced): 17/1 (1pt win)
