WE gave Mark O’Haire (@MarkOHaire) the task of find the best value bets from Tuesday’s European football coupon. These are his fancies from France.
Angers v Reims | Tuesday 18.00 | BT Sport 1
Newly-promoted Angers and almost relegated Reims occupy two of the top-six positions after six fixtures of the new Ligue 1 season. Their mirror image W3-D2-L1 returns mean the unfashionable duo sit just three points behind table-topping PSG going into matchday seven this midweek.
Reims actually held the Parisians on Saturday with a 1-1 draw in their own back yard and will be keen to continue their excellent record under Olivier Guégan’s watch. Appointed in early April to avoid the drop, Guégan’s taken W6-D2-L5 from his 13 games in charge and that includes W3-D1-L3 on the road.
Les Champenois saw goalkeeper Kossi Agassa and midfielder Prince Oniangué forced off with injuries at the weekend and both will be unavailable for this encounter whilst Antoine Conte and David Ngog also remain doubts. But I still reckon Reims are good enough to get a goal on Tuesday evening.
The away side have scored in five of their seven road trips under Guégan, netting at least twice on each occasion. However, they’ve failed to keep their sheets clean on their travels, leading to a very healthy 8/13 (62%) haul of Both Teams To Score winners since early April.
A repeat BTTS bet can be backed at 11/10 with Paddy Power and it looks enticing enough, for me. Reims have seen seven of their last eight at promoted teams feature three goals or more and although Angers’ fixtures have featured two goals or fewer in all bar one since promotion, the hosts have a number of absentees including key midfielder Cheikh N’Doye.
Stéphane Moulin is also without the suspended or injured Bilel Moshni, Yohann Eudeline, Gilles Sunu and Arnold Bouka Moutou. The hosts are hoping to record back-to-back league wins for the first time this campaign but were forced to play with 10 men for over an hour in their 1-0 win over fellow promoted side Troyes on Saturday in a backs-against-the-wall performance and could struggle against Reims’ piercing counter.
Together the two clubs have scored in 10 of their 12 Ligue 1 outings this season and I’m happy to get involved at 11/10 quotes that they both enhance that record on Tuesday.
PSG v Guingamp | Tuesday 20.00 | BT Sport 1
Two Ligue 1 games without a win have left PSG hanging on to top-spot. Last season’s quadruple winners only head the French table by a point with both St Etienne and Rennes breathing down their necks. But Laurent Blanc’s men should get back on the wagon for the visit of Guingamp.
The capital club were held to a 1-1 draw by Reims at the weekend and that followed up a disastrous 2-2 when welcoming Bordeaux to the Parc des Princes. Blanc should revert back to a more familiar starting XI this midweek and that means the likes of Edinson Cavani and Angel Di Maria back in the fold.
Since Le Président arrived at the club, PSG have W31-D8-L1 of their 40 Ligue 1 matches as hosts. In 29 of those games they’ve led at the interval with 26 resulting in W-W double results, 26/40 (65%) seeing the five-times champions run out winners by a margin of two goals or more. In 19/40 (48%) they’ve netted three or more goals and on 23/40 (58%) occasions they’ve kept clean sheets.
Guingamp arrive on the back of a hat-trick of victories against Marseille, Nice and Gazalec but with only one goal in the on the road, it’s difficult to see Jocelyn Gourvennec’s men causing the hosts too many problems. In 12 away days at top-half teams under Gourvennec’s watch, EAG have W0-D2-L10, failing to even score in seven.
The visitors are without full-backs Maxime Baca and Dorian Lévêque for the visit to the capital and that means Benjamin Angoua may need to cover an unusual left-back role once more. It’s certainly not ideal for a side that were humiliated 6-0 at the Parc des Princes towards the end of last season.
With all that in mind, it’s nice to see PSG available to back in the HT-FT market at 8/11 (Coral) – at those odds, it’s suggested this bet has a 58% chance of winning. But as we’ve already seen, the hosts have enjoyed 26/40 (65%) W-W double results in Ligue 1 matches in Paris under Blanc’s tutelage meaning the true price is closer to 8/15. The 8/11 is real value.
TOPICS European FootballBest Bets
Angers v Reims – Both Teams To Score (11/10 Paddy Power)
PSG v Guingamp – PSG/PSG double result (8/11 Coral)
