Ok, now the season has officially started yet again. We can all now settle down into the groove that we are used to. And from this point on we can concentrate on the Ligue 1 title race, which, at this point, is looking like a two horse race. And we are in the second part of the season which mean, of course, that there will be a few weeks where matches are played on Wednesday. Yesterday, both Rennes and St. Etienne played to a boring 0-0 draw. Hopefully today’s matches will be a little more exciting. Still, don’t count on it.
Paris Saint-Germain |
Vs. |
AS Monaco FC |
These are two teams with very different goals.
After Monaco’s 4-0 win against Montpellier to open the 2010 year, the Principality is looking to make their charge to the ever-changing top five of Ligue 1 (with the exception of first place, that is). Monaco ended last year with a draw against Lyon and Le Mans. Now, they have put together a two-match winning streak.
In their match against Montpellier, Monaco received some offensive firepower from rarely used midfielder Lukman Haruna. They mixed up there play a little bit compared to usual, which mostly involves Nene and Chu Young Park conducting most of the offensive duties. But in their last match, a 2-0 victory against Sochaux, Nene scored both of the team’s goals, and his dominance in the offensive was reaffirmed. Basically, Monaco needs to continue to do what they are doing (which is mixing up their play) to secure a victory in Paris.
Paris St-Germain, on the other hand, needs to just get their season back on track. So far, 2010 hasn’t been that great for them. A 3-1 loss to Lille (but hey, who isn’t losing to Lille 3-1 nowadays) and a League Cup loss to Guingamp (caused by an own goal by star defender Mamadou Sakho) put 2010 in some question. But if PSG look to get back on track, Monaco is the team they need to do it against. And rightfully so.
In the first month of the season, PSG looked like they could challenge Lyon and Bordeaux for the Ligue 1 title. Their offensive was clicking well. Their defense was looking good. Even without star striker Guillaume Hoarau (who, when he isn’t injured, hasn’t looked too impressive this season), they were producing goals. Even defensive midfielder Christophe Jallet was producing offensively.
But then came the trip to Monaco. In a game that both teams played well, and either side could have won, Monaco was able to secure two late goals from Park and Nene to get the win. And ever since that point, PSG just has not looked like the same team. So a win against the team that hurt their early season momentum would be exactly what PSG would need.
And, according to the Ligue 1 website, PSG will yet against be without striker Guillaume Hoarau. Still, Mevlut Erding has been very impressive offensively. The key to a PSG win will come off the foot of Erding. If he plays well, PSG can win. If not, Monaco will have their way with the struggling Paris side at the Parc des Princes.
OGC Nice |
Vs. |
AJ Auxerre |
Nice needs to get their season together, and need to do it quick. The only problem is that much is their team is in Africa right now. Basically, Loic Remy is the only quality player on the pitch for Nice.
Like a shark looking for blood to seek his prey, this is the perfect opportunity of Auxerre to make a charge to the top of the league table. After a bad start to the season, which then saw a resurgence that moved them into first place, Auxerre has now dropped back to 7th place in Ligue 1.
While Nice’s players are off playing in a tournament, Auxerre sees the return of Polish international Ireneusz Jelen to the line up. And with Auxerre’s lack of offense this season, this is the perfect point of his return. Expect Auxerre to destroy the depleted Nice team.
FC Lorient |
Vs. |
Olympique Lyonnais |
This is the match that might have the most implications regarding the European spots in the Ligue 1 table. Lorient is only one point behind Lyon, who currently holds the final European tournament spot.
As has been noted on this site, Lyon seems to be in some trouble. Defensively, the team has been far from stellar. And Lyon isn’t expected to start new signing Dejan Lovren today. Still, the good news for Lyon defensively is that Jeremy Toulalan has returned to the team and has been playing great since his return.
Toulalan needs to continue his stellar play as they will travel to Lorient, which is home to one of the most lethal front two in all of Ligue 1. If Lyon cannot get their defense together tonight, then Kevin Gameiro and Marama Vahirau can have their way with Lyon. If Lyon cannot shut these two players down, then Lorient can make a big statement against the seven-time champions.
Therefore, Lyon needs to pile on the offensive pressure as well. In three games in 2010, Lyon has scored eight goals in two games. Yet, two of those teams were Ligue 2 teams. Still, these matches might be exactly the confidence boost that Lyon needs to get their 2010 year started in the right direction. If they can continue to pile on the pressure, and Lisandro continues to pound the goal, Lyon have a chance against Lorient this week. This might be the best match to watch today.
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard |
Vs. |
LOSC Lille Métropole |
Lille is currently without the services of star striker Gervinho. My answer….who cares!
Lille has already shown this season that they can play just fine without Gervinho, who is currently playing in Africa. In fact, since the departure of Gervinho, Belgian sensation Eden Hazard has been able to show his stuff. In addition, Florent Balmont has been a large part of the Lille offensive. And comeback kid Pierre-Alain Frau continues to find the net. Oh yea, and let us not forget about Yoann Cabaye.
Sochaux is looking more and more like a team with troubles and a possible trip to the relegation zone. They need to pull off a victory today. But against Lille? That isn’t happening! Expect another impressive Lille win.
Grenoble Foot 38 |
Vs. |
Girondins de Bordeaux |
Do we really need to preview this match? I don’t think so. Still, this is exactly the type of match that Bordeaux could lose. Remember the match against St. Etienne at the start of the season? Still, while a Bordeaux win is in the cards, it would not be unusual for Les Girondins to pull off another boring 1-0 win on the road.
RC Lens |
Vs. |
Montpellier Hérault SC |
Looking at last year, most had different expectations of these two teams. Most expected Montpellier to be in 19th or 20th place, while Lens was looking to restore their glory days of ten years ago.
But it has been to total opposite. Montpellier looks to continue their dominance in Ligue 1 play. Lens, who started off the season looking poor, have finally started to move up the Ligue 1 talbe and are currently in 13th place.
On paper, Montpellier still looks to be the more impressive team. They have been able to score goals, something that Lens has not been able to do this season. If Lens scoring drought continues, then Montpellier might be able to still hold on to that last Champions League spot for yet another week.
Olympique de Marseille |
vs. |
Le Mans UC 72 |
Marseille will dominate. Period.
Toulouse FC |
/ |
AS Nancy Lorraine |
Toulouse has started off 2010 quite impressively. With two cup wins and a 3-1 win away to Valenciennes last week, Toulouse looks to be back on track to move back up the first half of the table. Still, it is unknown how much of an impact that Andre-Pierre Gignac will have in this game. He is expeted to start, according to the Ligue 1 site. But we will see if he actually does.
Nancy, on the other hand, are starting to fall. Youssuf Hadji has been well neutralized in the last few matches. And with Toulouse’s defense ,being one of the best in Ligue 1, they should easily be able to handle Nancy’s striking power, which consists of mostly one player. A Toulouse win at Stadium Municipal should give Toulouse the boost they need to move back up the chart yet again.
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Filed under: Ligue 1 Commentary, Ligue 1 News
Ligue 1 “Games of the Day” Preview for Matchday 21
Ok, now the season has officially started yet again. We can all now settle down into the groove that we are used to. And from this point on we can concentrate on the Ligue 1 title race, which, at this point, is looking like a two horse race. And we are in the second part of the season which mean, of course, that there will be a few weeks where matches are played on Wednesday. Yesterday, both Rennes and St. Etienne played to a boring 0-0 draw. Hopefully today’s matches will be a little more exciting. Still, don’t count on it.
Paris Saint-Germain
AS Monaco FC
These are two teams with very different goals.
After Monaco’s 4-0 win against Montpellier to open the 2010 year, the Principality is looking to make their charge to the ever-changing top five of Ligue 1 (with the exception of first place, that is). Monaco ended last year with a draw against Lyon and Le Mans. Now, they have put together a two-match winning streak.
In their match against Montpellier, Monaco received some offensive firepower from rarely used midfielder Lukman Haruna. They mixed up there play a little bit compared to usual, which mostly involves Nene and Chu Young Park conducting most of the offensive duties. But in their last match, a 2-0 victory against Sochaux, Nene scored both of the team’s goals, and his dominance in the offensive was reaffirmed. Basically, Monaco needs to continue to do what they are doing (which is mixing up their play) to secure a victory in Paris.
Paris St-Germain, on the other hand, needs to just get their season back on track. So far, 2010 hasn’t been that great for them. A 3-1 loss to Lille (but hey, who isn’t losing to Lille 3-1 nowadays) and a League Cup loss to Guingamp (caused by an own goal by star defender Mamadou Sakho) put 2010 in some question. But if PSG look to get back on track, Monaco is the team they need to do it against. And rightfully so.
In the first month of the season, PSG looked like they could challenge Lyon and Bordeaux for the Ligue 1 title. Their offensive was clicking well. Their defense was looking good. Even without star striker Guillaume Hoarau (who, when he isn’t injured, hasn’t looked too impressive this season), they were producing goals. Even defensive midfielder Christophe Jallet was producing offensively.
But then came the trip to Monaco. In a game that both teams played well, and either side could have won, Monaco was able to secure two late goals from Park and Nene to get the win. And ever since that point, PSG just has not looked like the same team. So a win against the team that hurt their early season momentum would be exactly what PSG would need.
And, according to the Ligue 1 website, PSG will yet against be without striker Guillaume Hoarau. Still, Mevlut Erding has been very impressive offensively. The key to a PSG win will come off the foot of Erding. If he plays well, PSG can win. If not, Monaco will have their way with the struggling Paris side at the Parc des Princes.
OGC Nice
AJ Auxerre
Nice needs to get their season together, and need to do it quick. The only problem is that much is their team is in Africa right now. Basically, Loic Remy is the only quality player on the pitch for Nice.
Like a shark looking for blood to seek his prey, this is the perfect opportunity of Auxerre to make a charge to the top of the league table. After a bad start to the season, which then saw a resurgence that moved them into first place, Auxerre has now dropped back to 7th place in Ligue 1.
While Nice’s players are off playing in a tournament, Auxerre sees the return of Polish international Ireneusz Jelen to the line up. And with Auxerre’s lack of offense this season, this is the perfect point of his return. Expect Auxerre to destroy the depleted Nice team.
FC Lorient
Olympique Lyonnais
This is the match that might have the most implications regarding the European spots in the Ligue 1 table. Lorient is only one point behind Lyon, who currently holds the final European tournament spot.
As has been noted on this site, Lyon seems to be in some trouble. Defensively, the team has been far from stellar. And Lyon isn’t expected to start new signing Dejan Lovren today. Still, the good news for Lyon defensively is that Jeremy Toulalan has returned to the team and has been playing great since his return.
Toulalan needs to continue his stellar play as they will travel to Lorient, which is home to one of the most lethal front two in all of Ligue 1. If Lyon cannot get their defense together tonight, then Kevin Gameiro and Marama Vahirau can have their way with Lyon. If Lyon cannot shut these two players down, then Lorient can make a big statement against the seven-time champions.
Therefore, Lyon needs to pile on the offensive pressure as well. In three games in 2010, Lyon has scored eight goals in two games. Yet, two of those teams were Ligue 2 teams. Still, these matches might be exactly the confidence boost that Lyon needs to get their 2010 year started in the right direction. If they can continue to pile on the pressure, and Lisandro continues to pound the goal, Lyon have a chance against Lorient this week. This might be the best match to watch today.
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard
LOSC Lille Métropole
Lille is currently without the services of star striker Gervinho. My answer….who cares!
Lille has already shown this season that they can play just fine without Gervinho, who is currently playing in Africa. In fact, since the departure of Gervinho, Belgian sensation Eden Hazard has been able to show his stuff. In addition, Florent Balmont has been a large part of the Lille offensive. And comeback kid Pierre-Alain Frau continues to find the net. Oh yea, and let us not forget about Yoann Cabaye.
Sochaux is looking more and more like a team with troubles and a possible trip to the relegation zone. They need to pull off a victory today. But against Lille? That isn’t happening! Expect another impressive Lille win.
Grenoble Foot 38
Girondins de Bordeaux
Do we really need to preview this match? I don’t think so. Still, this is exactly the type of match that Bordeaux could lose. Remember the match against St. Etienne at the start of the season? Still, while a Bordeaux win is in the cards, it would not be unusual for Les Girondins to pull off another boring 1-0 win on the road.
RC Lens
Montpellier Hérault SC
Looking at last year, most had different expectations of these two teams. Most expected Montpellier to be in 19th or 20th place, while Lens was looking to restore their glory days of ten years ago.
But it has been to total opposite. Montpellier looks to continue their dominance in Ligue 1 play. Lens, who started off the season looking poor, have finally started to move up the Ligue 1 talbe and are currently in 13th place.
On paper, Montpellier still looks to be the more impressive team. They have been able to score goals, something that Lens has not been able to do this season. If Lens scoring drought continues, then Montpellier might be able to still hold on to that last Champions League spot for yet another week.
Olympique de Marseille
Le Mans UC 72
Marseille will dominate. Period.
Toulouse FC
AS Nancy Lorraine
Toulouse has started off 2010 quite impressively. With two cup wins and a 3-1 win away to Valenciennes last week, Toulouse looks to be back on track to move back up the first half of the table. Still, it is unknown how much of an impact that Andre-Pierre Gignac will have in this game. He is expeted to start, according to the Ligue 1 site. But we will see if he actually does.
Nancy, on the other hand, are starting to fall. Youssuf Hadji has been well neutralized in the last few matches. And with Toulouse’s defense ,being one of the best in Ligue 1, they should easily be able to handle Nancy’s striking power, which consists of mostly one player. A Toulouse win at Stadium Municipal should give Toulouse the boost they need to move back up the chart yet again.
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Filed under: Ligue 1 Commentary, Ligue 1 News