2011-12 Ligue 1 Preview for 8th-6th.

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Dave Trotter

With the list getting shorter, the previews will also get shorter before we get to the top team. So here are my predictions for 8th, 7th and 6th.

8th – Sochaux: When making this prediction, I am wondering if I might be putting Sochaux a little higher than they deserve to be. Yes, last year they were able to pull off a shocking 5th place finish in the Ligue 1 standings, which nobody saw coming. But if you look at the talent on their team, it isn’t a surprise. Yes, some of the players were passively observed in the past, but now we know their names by heart.

But looking at the summer, it seems as if Sochaux had a few blows. First of all, Jacques Faty left, which we all expected. Still, even with Faty’s departure, Sochaux should still be able to cope. He was injured during the last few matches of the season, but the team was still able to play some strong football without him.

In addition to Faty’s departure, Ideye Brown as also left the team for Dynamo Kyiv, where he has made an immediate impact, with four goals in two matches. Ideye was easily one of last year’s surprises, scoring 15 goals last season. Still, with Ideye’s departure, Václav Svěrkoš is returning from a loan deal and should be able to help Sochaux up front.
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Filed under: FC Sochaux-Montbeliard, Montpellier HSC, Stade Rennais FC | 3 Comments »

Ligue 1 Matchday 35 Preview – Upset in the making day?

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Dave Trotter

There are only 20 days left until the end of the Ligue 1 season, and the standings are about as predictable as when all the teams had no point. A number of teams can still win the title. A number of teams can be relegated. And, mathematically, every team but Lens and Arles-Avignon are in the hunt to qualify for the last Europa League spot, which could be sixth place in the standings, depending on where PSG finishes (as Lille has already clinched at least a trip to the Europa League).

It seems like it was only yesterday when we were talking about the Lyon vs. Marseille match. In fact, it was yesterday. And now, just two days later, we are getting ready for more Ligue 1 action.

The week will start off with two Tuesday matches, which are being held on the separate day due to the scheduling conflict caused by the French Cup final.
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Filed under: AJ Auxerre, AS Monaco FC, AS Nancy Lorraine, AS Saint-Etienne, FC Lorient, FC Sochaux-Montbeliard, Girondins de Bordeaux, Ligue 1 Commentary, LOSC Lille, Montpellier HSC, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique Marseille, Paris Saint Germain, SM Caen, Stade Brestois 29, Stade Rennais FC | Comments Off

Ligue 1 Matchday 34 Preview: Are there some big games this weekend?

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Dave Trotter

Going into this weekend’s Ligue 1 matches, everyone can see the one big match that will be looming over all other matches, which is Sunday night’s heavyweight match between Lyon and Marseille, now termed the Olympico.

But of course, there are a number of other matches that will be going on that will have just as much of an impact on what could happen in the Ligue 1 season as the big OL vs. OM match does. Therefore, lets take a brief look at the upcoming weekend.

Lille is the team that is current leading the league. Luckily for them, they will be playing Nancy on the road. Nancy, a team that many people expect (and, sadly, want) to be relegated to Ligue 2 this season. They will be fighting for the Ligue 1 lives against the championship front-runners. Unfortunately for Nancy, Lille have the second best road record in Ligue 1. True, they will be missing the services of Yohan Cabaye, but his absence shouldn’t hurt them against an opponent that they should easily defeat. And if Lille is able to grab a valuable three points while both OL and OM are slugging it out (which could end in a draw), they could truly make this a two-horse race for the Ligue 1 title.

In other matches, a number of teams vying for the final Europa League spots will be squaring off against one another.

One of those matches will be Lorient hosting Toulouse. Both teams are coming off positive wins. And while Toulouse’s 2-0 win against Lyon might look more impressive than Lorient’s come-from-behind victory at Lens, they are still coming off a high nonetheless. For Lorient, Kevin Gameiro, who was looking like he might have slowed down about a month ago, is showing that he is back and with full force. But what will hurt Gameiro is that Toulouse’s defense looks to be back as well.
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Filed under: AJ Auxerre, AS Monaco FC, AS Nancy Lorraine, FC Lorient, FC Sochaux-Montbeliard, Girondins de Bordeaux, LOSC Lille, Montpellier HSC, Paris Saint Germain, Toulouse FC | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Ligue 1 Matchday 20 Preview – How will Lens perform today?

Posted on January 15, 2011 by Dave Trotter

How much will the departure of Razak Boukari hurt Lens?

To be perfect honest, I hate doing match previews. I dislike doing research on Nancy vs. Arles. And if I do a review of all of the matches, that means that I have to do research on matches that really don’t matter. And even if there isn’t a storyline in a certain match up, I have to make one up.

So from this point on, instead of previewing all of the matches, I am just going to mention some things that you might want to look for in each matchday. This should make it easier, as well as more interesting. So here we go.

How will Lens perform today? – This might be the first time that we open this segment talking about Lens, but they have gone through a few changes in the last month. First, coach Jean-Guy Wallemme was replaced by Romanian László Bölöni. Second, Lens’ leading scorer, Abdoulrazak Boukari, was transferred to Rennes. Many will argue that these two changes might have hurt Lens more than helped. And Lens’ 5-1 loss to PSG in the French Cup my just be proof. They play against St. Etienne today, so we will see if they look any better than they did in their Cup match.
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Filed under: AJ Auxerre, AS Monaco FC, FC Lorient, FC Sochaux-Montbeliard, Girondins de Bordeaux, Montpellier HSC, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique Marseille, Paris Saint Germain, RC Lens, SM Caen, Stade Brestois 29 | Tagged: , , , | Comments Off

Ligue 1′s Wish List for Winter Mercato Part II (Monaco to Valenciennes).

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Dave Trotter

A Sessegnon move to St. Etienne the best option (Reuters)?

We are continuing our quick “needs list” from the other day with the rest of the teams, starting with Monaco.

Monaco – Easily, Monaco has to be one of the biggest upsets of the season. Yes, they do miss Nene, but they still should be a decent mid-table team. Still, one seriously has to wonder if the organization really thought that Daniel Niculae could provide Monaco with the same offensive success as Nene. Yes, he is a solid player, but really?

Anyway, Monaco seems to have some major problems with both their midfield and up front. Their midfield is sub par, though they do have a few players like Nampalys Mendy, who seems to have a bright future. Also, offensively, Chu Young Park really needs to find both some midfield and up front support, so that he isn’t the only one producing offensive chances. Therefore, finding some good, solid forwards and midfielders should be Monaco’s priority. If they don’t build their team now, they might lose some quality players. While Park has a contract extension until 2013, Ruffier’s contract expires in the summer.

Montpellier – During the off-season, many were wondering if the Costa-Montano tandem could be replaced by the Estrada-Giroud pair. And even with a few injuries this season, these two players have been able to work well together. True, they aren’t at the level of Costa-Montano, but they have the potential.
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Filed under: AS Monaco FC, AS Nancy Lorraine, AS Saint-Etienne, FC Sochaux-Montbeliard, Montpellier HSC, OGC Nice, Paris Saint Germain, Stade Rennais FC, Toulouse FC, Valenciennes FC | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Lorient vs. Montpellier Preview

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Dave Trotter

It has only been two days since most of us watched the Marseille vs. Lyon match, and yet we are already thrust upon another matchday of Ligue 1 excitement. And for our Tuesday match, we have two teams that desperately need the points.

Yesterday, Lorient Kevin Gameiro revealed that he has been looking for a transfer out of Lorient for the past six months. And after his clash with coach Christian Courcuff after Saturday’s loss to Toulouse, where Gourcuff criticized Gameiro for his play, who knows how Gameiro will play during the remainder of his time at Lorient. Still, Gameiro says that no matter what the talk is on his transfer status, he will still be professional and play at his top level.

That being said, there will be a few changes to the visiting Montpellier team. First of all, midfielder Marco Estrada will be present for the team that is traveling to Lorient. Estrada has been an important part of any little bit of success that Montpellier’s offense has had. And while not looking like the best offense in Ligue 1 (in fact, they are far from it), they have looked much worse during his absence. Still, he isn’t expected to start today. The question is if Lorient takes the lead in this matchup, will Montpellier coach Rene Girard decide to bring Estrada in early.

In addition to Estrada’s return, Montpellier will also be without the services of Nenad Dzodic and Romain Pitau, which is expected to hamper Montpellier’s overall play.
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Filed under: FC Lorient, Montpellier HSC | Tagged: , , | Comments Off

Ligue 1 Matchday 18: What did we learn?

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Dave Trotter

Ligue 1...watch...and learn! (Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Another week of Ligue 1 action gone, and it is only a one day break until we have our last matches of 2010, starting with Lorient against Montpellier, which should be really interesting. So, what did we learn in Matchday 18?

1. Nene is the best player in Ligue 1 – Yes, PSG did draw against Monaco, which really seems like a loss to most PSG supporters, but the play of Nene was simply stellar! He has an amazingly accurate shot, as well as being able to nail goals at long-range. It just seems like whatever he touches turns into gold.

But still, even with Nene playing well, PSG seems to be playing better as a collective group. Except for the 10 or so seconds of collapse during their match against Monaco, where Stephane Sessegnon went down to injury and the PSG players lost concentration, they looked great in their match. The only question still seems to be the goalkeeping, and if Edel is their man. Even with that being said, Nene is easily making a statement for being the Ligue 1 Player of the Year. And should we really be surprised? It seems that everyone forgot that Nene was one of the leading scorers last year. And with scoring 14 goals last year, he will easily eclipse that this year, as he is only one-off that total at 13. Could he score 30 this year? We shall see.
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Filed under: FC Lorient, Ligue 1 Commentary, Montpellier HSC, Paris Saint Germain, Toulouse FC | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Ligue 1 Matchday 18 Saturday recap.

Posted on December 18, 2010 by Dave Trotter

Fabien, welcome back!

Fifty-two minutes into the Paris St. Germain vs. Monaco match, one wouldn’t be surprised if talk about erecting a bronze statue in the middle of the Champs de Mars far Nene was spreading around the Parc Des Princes. But after a late goal by Daniel Niculae, Monaco were able to grab a valuable point on the road, which assures that The Principality won’t drop to the bottom three in the league.

Going into this match, PSG were the expected favorites. And if you were to look at their play, they dominated the much weaker Monaco side. In addition, Nene continued to show that he can score goals from anywhere, especially in long-range situations. With his two goals in this match, Nene is now tied with Moussa Sow for the Ligue 1 lead in goals scored at thirteen.

Still, even with Paris holding on two a 2-1 lead late in the match, their lack of concentration led to the game tying goal by Monaco. After Stephane Sessegnon went down to injury, referee Lionel Jeffredo continued play even with Sessegnon down. During this time, Monaco moved the ball into the PSG third of the pitch, where they caught the home side napping, mostly because many of their players were expecting the whistle to blow due to the Sessegnon injury. This led to Daniel Niculae sneaking in and score the game-tying goal.

After the match, both Guy Lacombe and Antoine Kombouare were yelling at one another in the tunnel. Sylvain Armand also had a bit of a “discussion” with Jeffredo. Still, while Jeffredo should have blown the whistle, PSG should have continued to play, which they did not. They deserved this loss.
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Filed under: AJ Auxerre, AS Monaco FC, AS Saint-Etienne, Ligue 1 News, Montpellier HSC, OGC Nice, Paris Saint Germain, Stade Brestois 29, Stade Rennais FC, Toulouse FC | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off

Ligue 1 Matchday 18 Saturday Preview

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Dave Trotter

Can young gun Youssef El-Arabi pull Caen from the Ligue 1 cellar?

Well, another week of Ligue 1 action, and finally the top five favorites for the Ligue 1 title are first through fifth. And, of course, three of those teams will play on Sunday, with the big Marseille vs. Lyon match looming.

So, lets dive right into the previews for Saturday’s matches.

Lens vs. Caen – Yes, a match that will basically mean absolutely nothing. The winner “might” move out of the relegation zone, while the loser, of course, will stay in the relegation zone. This is a sad fact considering many people had higher hopes for these teams, at least finishing at mid-table.

One interesting thing regarding this match is that Vedran Runje is expected to be part of the Lens team on Saturday. After a clash with Lens supporters after the teams 3-0 loss to Lorient on the road, Runje was said to have been punished by Gervais Martel regarding the incident. But, it seems like being suspended from playing isn’t part of the punishment. Still, it will be interesting to see how the crowd at Lens, who are always amongst the most vocal in Ligue 1, will react if Runje gets the start, which is expected.
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Filed under: AJ Auxerre, AS Monaco FC, AS Saint-Etienne, FC Lorient, Ligue 1 Commentary, Montpellier HSC, OGC Nice, Paris Saint Germain, RC Lens, SM Caen, Stade Brestois 29, Stade Rennais FC, Toulouse FC, Uncategorized, Valenciennes FC | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Ligue 1 Matchday 17 Saturday Preview: Could be a snoozer!

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Dave Trotter

Could Pedretti's injury lead to even more woes at Auxerre?

During the mid-week, Ligue 1 teams had mixed results. At the Stade Velodrome, Marseille were able to knock off Chelsea by a score of 1-0, which could have actually been more for Marseille. The other two teams in the Champions League didn’t fare as well, as Lyon drew against Tel Aviv and Auxerre lost to Marseille.

So how will those teams do this weekend? Here is our Saturday Matchday 17 preview.

Brest vs. Montpellier – This might be the story of two teams heading in different directions. Last week, Brest weren’t the most impressive team against Paris St. Germain. On the other hand Montpellier looked great, even though it was in a losing effort.

While both teams have had decent showings this season, neither team have really shown that they have gelled. Both have decent scorers, but both have great defenses. This could easily be a 1-0 game, but for who?

Up front, I think that Brest have a little bit of an edge right now over Montpellier. While Montpellier’s Olivier Giroud has had a decent season, Nolan Roux always seems to find a way to slip by the defenders. Therefore, I’m going with Roux and Brest in a 1-0 win.
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Filed under: AC Arles Avginon, AJ Auxerre, AS Nancy Lorraine, FC Sochaux-Montbeliard, Ligue 1 News, LOSC Lille, Montpellier HSC, OGC Nice, Olympique Marseille, Paris Saint Germain, RC Lens, SM Caen, Stade Brestois 29, Valenciennes FC | 3 Comments »

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