Ligue 1 should bring the drama again this week, with the competition blown wide open last week with excellent wins for Marseille and Lyon, and Monaco dropping the ball for the second successive week against Guingamp, amid reports of dressing-room tension around the Stade Louis II.
Second is still in Monaco’s hands and they can rectify their appalling run of just one win in five- and that being a narrow win over Nantes- welcoming Amiens. Amiens themselves are just a point from securing another season in Ligue 1 after beating Strasbourg 3-1 at the State de la Licorne. They face a Monaco side who are without centre-back Jemerson who was sent off in the 3-1 defeat to Guingamp.
The unenviable fixture list for 10th placed Guingamp sees them follow-up taking on last season’s champions with 2018’s newly-elected in the last game of the weekend. By beating PSG at Parc des Princes they will surprise pretty much everyone and have excellent chance of reaching of interrupting the cluster just below the Europa League spot and achieve a very respectable place in the league table. Guingamp have had an excellent April, undefeated all month, with three wins coming in the four fixtures. For PSG, manager Unai Emery has just announced that he is to leave Les Parisiens at the end of the season, coming as a shock to no-one, and has four games left to make slightly better reading for his CV.
Probably the most important fixture of this Gameweek comes between the two teams rooted at the bottom of the table as bottom of the table Metz travel to Lille. Metz won’t quite be able to leapfrog Lille with a win at the Pierre Mauroy through goal difference but will want to avenge the three-nil drubbing they experienced in the home fixture and extend Lille’s miserable run to twelve games without a win. Les Dogues haven’t won since late January, whereas Metz are making headway on their great escape, with one defeat in five.
The game which kicks off this weekend’s action is Montpellier versus Saint-Etienne on Friday night, with only one place between the two sides. Montpellier will be able to swipe Saint-Etienne’s position with a win, and can also reach sixth, although this is also dependant on Toulouse getting a shock result over seventh-place Rennes. Toulouse had a massive win over Angers last week but satisfied many pundits’ predictions with a mid-week bore draw against Caen, when both teams are still desperate for points to remain safely in the league. However, Toulouse now have as many points in their last two games as they achieved in their previous eight.
Olympique Lyonnais will have their best run since October with their sixth win on the trot, if they defeat Nantes at the Groupama. Dimitri Payet is only one assist away from Neymar’s season high and between him and Florian Thauvin have provided 22 goals between them.
Two teams in equally appalling form face each other late Saturday evening. Caen, who are sitting a little bit more preferably, haven’t been beaten by Troyes since 2013. Nice also travel to Strasbourg, who are just one place above the drop but with a five point cushion. A win for Dijon in Bordeaux would see them swap places with Les Girondins as both look to settle for mid-table mediocrity and wishful thinking for a better season next year.
Olympique de Marseille produced an excellent 2-0 win over FC Salzburg in their Europa League semi-final home leg in the wee. With Les Phoceens comprehensively beat Lille 5-1 the previous weekend in the league, they’re getting their season back on track. They travel to Angers on Sunday. The hope for Angers who are still not mathematically safe but outside the relegation zone by the grace of the teams below them poor form, is that Rudi Garcia will allow several players to be rested in anticipation of tough return trip to Austria. A depleted Marseille forward line who are in smashingly entertaining form would be welcome at the Stade Raymond Kopa.
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