Well, Lille’s reign lasted only one season. Yes, there are 15 games left, but the current Ligue 1 champions are 24 points behind PSG. At this point, not even Martin Scorsese could come up with a script in which Lille retains the crown.
I’m confident saying that because of what happened in the last fixture. The Parisians had no trouble fulfilling their role as betting online favorites and consolidated in first place. Meanwhile, the race for the remaining Champions League tickets is more interesting than ever.
French Ligue 1 Breakdown
Embarrassing
That’s the best term to describe the defeat Lille suffered against PSG in the last fixture. The Parisians assaulted Pierre-Mauroy Stadium with a 5-1 victory, pushing Lille out of the top 10. Danilo Pereira was the Man of the Match after scoring twice. Presnel Kimpembe, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe also scored.
Think about this for a moment, PSG managed to crush the reigning champions even with Neymar and Sergio Ramos out. No other team has scored more goals than them. Plus, they also own the best defensive record alongside Nice. I’m just gonna say it: PSG’s true challenge is to win the UCL.
The bad news is that Angel Di Maria left the field with an injury. Don’t expect him to play on Friday against Rennes. They want him fully recovered to face Real Madrid. As expected, the Parisians dominate the soccer lines thanks to a -175 price. However, Rennes is the only team that has managed to defeat PSG.
Close Race for Second Place
Precisely, Rennes can’t afford to lose, at least not if they want to remain in the race for a UCL ticket. They currently sit in fifth place, six points behind second-place Marseille. Nice and Strasbourg are sitting between the two.
In the last fixture, only Nice failed to win, losing 1-0 to Clermont. That allowed Marseille to climb up to second place after crushing Angers 5-2. We often talk about Messi or Mbappe, but Marseille striker Arkadiusz Milik also deserves some praise. He led the team to victory with a hat trick.
Nice will have another tough test on Saturday when visiting Lyon. A victory could boost the home side, which is offering a -110 price in the sportsbook, up to fifth place.
Before moving on to the next topic, let’s stand up and applaud Strasbourg head coach Julien Stephan. Last season, the team finished only two points above the relegation zone. This season, it’s on the verge of qualifying for the UCL. That could be a movie from Scorsese.
Saint-Etienne is Alive
The race over the relegation zone is also very interesting. Saint-Etienne remains in last place but won its last two games. Most recently, they defeated Montpellier 3-1, allowing them to reduce the gap with three teams to two points.
Bordeaux and Metz are the other two teams sitting in the relegation zone, while Lorient and Troyes are close.
The thing with Saint-Etienne is that the schedule has no mercy on them. Their next three games are against Clermont, Strasbourg and PSG. If you want to include them in your soccer picks, I recommend you do it this weekend. They’re offering a +230 price to defeat Clermont.
Scoring is their Last Name
AS Monaco and Lille are not having particularly good seasons. However, things are quite different when it comes to their top strikers. We’re talking about Wissam Ben Yedder and Jonathan David, the league’s top scorers with 14 and 12 goals, respectively.
Then come three players with 11 goals each: Gaetan Laborde (Rennes), Kylian Mbappe (PSG) and Martin Terrier (Rennes). If PSG advances to the UCL Round of 8, I expect Mbappe to play less and less in Ligue 1. That’s why I think David at +275 should be your pick to win the Golden Boot. Unlike PSG, Lille needs to go all-in on every single match to keep the UCL hopes alive.
