MARK O’Haire (@MarkOHaire) has scoured the Ligue 1 coupon looking for the best value bets this weekend.
Paris Saint-Germain v Nice | Saturday 16.00
Paris Saint-Germain survived a scare last Friday night. Laurent Blanc’s men saw a 2-0 lead at Metz cut to 2-2 before Javier Pastore scored a decisive winner just five minutes from time to keep the capital club’s winning spree intact.
The defending champions have now bagged eight successive wins in all competitions and look a solid bet at 5/6 with Paddy Power to beat Nice ‘to nil’ this weekend.
Looking at results since the start of the 2012/13 campaign to the present day, PSG have won 32/44 (73%) at the Parc des Princes and kept 30/44 (68%) clean sheets in front of their home fans. In fact, only one of Paris’ last home league wins since the start of last season didn’t arrive with a clean sheet.
Nice, for their part, have struggled when playing away from the Rivieria, losing 16/25 (64%) of away Ligue 1 fixtures and most concerning, have failed to trouble the scorers in 15/25 (60%) road trips.
Rennes v Monaco | Saturday 19.00
Rennes finally look to be on the right track under Philippe Montanier’s stewardship. Having impressed in charge of Real Sociedad, big things were expected from the Frenchman when he took charge of les Rouges et Noirs at the start of last season.
The Brittany-based club have recorded four wins from an unbeaten spell of six league games to move into seventh with Paul-Georges Ntep earning rave reviews spearheading the Rennes arrack. It’s their best run of form for four years.
William Hill have chalked up Montanier’s men as even-money shots in the Draw No Bet market for the visit of Monaco and they look well worth a wager. It looks a bit too good to turn down with les Rouges et Noirs having W4-D1-L1 of their six fixtures at Stade de la Route de Lorient so far in 2014/15.
Performances have certainly improved for the visitors but Monaco have still managed just 3/10 (30%) wins on the road this season, including only one in their last five. The Principality club were also involved in a tough Champions League assignment at Leverkusen in midweek.
Bordeaux v Lille | Sunday 13.30
Having flown out of the blocks with five wins in their first eight games under former Bayern Munich defender Willy Sagnol, Bordeaux’s form has regressed slightly. But only slightly.
Les Girondins remain a force to be reckoned with at Stade Chaban-Delmas and so whilst they’ve been beaten in three of their last six Ligue 1 outings, the 2009 champions can call upon an unbeaten home record (W4-D1-L1).
Sagnol’s side put in a brave performance at table-topping Marseille before crumbling under the second-half onslaught but I’m prepared to side with them on Sunday.
Lille are in the midst of a wretched run – collecting just a point from their last 15 available and losing five of their last seven in domestic football.
Rene Girard’s charges have also lost their shooting boots. LOSC have failed to trouble the scoresheet in five of their last seven but they should get a few opportunities against a Bordeaux side that’s failed to keep a clean sheet in 13.
With that in mind, I’m willing to have a small play on the 5/1 from William Hill that Bordeaux win and Both Teams Score. All four of Bordeaux’s home wins have come in this fashion as well as six of their seven league victories in 2014/15. The price is just far too big to turn down.
TOPICS European FootballBest Bets
PSG v Nice – PSG win ‘to nil’ (5/6 Paddy Power)
Rennes v Monaco – Rennes draw no bet (1/1 William Hill)
Bordeaux v Lille – Bordeaux to win and Both Teams To Score (5/1 William Hill)
