French Soccer League Predictions and Discussion Thread (Ligue 1)

[Jossque]

The first of the matches I'm looking forward to next match week will be Nice vs Marseille. Nice have made a good start to the season and are undefeated in 8 games. I think they can be one of the title contenders while doing so well. A possible win against Marseille could give them more confidence. Of course, they are behind teams like PSG and Monaco in terms of scoring goals, but I would like to underline that they are the only team without a defeat yet. Since Marseille will also focus on European games, it seems likely that Nice will win this match.

[Hvdv]

The first of the matches I'm looking forward to next match week will be Nice vs Marseille. Nice have made a good start to the season and are undefeated in 8 games. I think they can be one of the title contenders while doing so well. A possible win against Marseille could give them more confidence. Of course, they are behind teams like PSG and Monaco in terms of scoring goals, but I would like to underline that they are the only team without a defeat yet. Since Marseille will also focus on European games, it seems likely that Nice will win this match.

Nice wants to have a year full of real success this year and they are taking firm steps on this path because look, they have not suffered a defeat yet. Let us also remind you that they defeated PSG and Monaco away. Nice was the winner in both big matches. Of course, they can win against Marseille if they are lucky.

[rahmad2nd]

PSG performances in the champions league against Newcastle United is unacceptable and Enrique is rightly feeling the heat. On the contrary, i think the manager is finding iot hard to build attacking or defensive rythm after signing lots of players at the start of the season. The coach definitely has to do better; with Bans coming up for few players including Muani; time is right for Enrique to proof himself.

You can see the line-up that Enrique used in the match against Newcastle. IMO, I suspect that Enrique is more speculative in experimenting with the system and rotating his players. In that match, Enrique applied a 4-2-3-1 pattern. Goncalo Ramos is the sole striker, Kolo Muani and Dembele play on the wings, while Mbappe plays behind Goncalo Ramos. We can say that during this match, Mbappe was rotated into an attacking midfielder or playmaker. maybe, IMO, Enrique wants to maximize his players' play. I mean here, Ramos, Kolo Muani, Dembele and Mbeppe were played as starting events. Unfortunately, the system he implemented failed miserably. Kolo Muani played poorly on the wing, which was eventually replaced by Barcola. Apart from that, Paris Saint-Germain's defensive line played disastrously. In the end, PSG fell, humiliated by Newcastle.

I think it was a wrong decision to implement a system like that, which in the end Enrique returned to implementing a 4-3-3 system against Rennes. but again their performance was not optimal, their stickers had difficulty scoring goals. Fortunately, Vitinha and Hakimi were able to score first to give them their advantage. Only after Kolo Muani came on did their striker score a goal to complete PSG's victory. Well, in the defeat against Newcastle, Enrique gained valuable experience because he was humiliated by Newcastle. In the second leg, I think Paris Saint-Germain will be able to defeat Newcastle at the Parc des Princess, home of Les Parisiens. Anyway, Enrique should have given Kolo Muani more opportunities to play as a center forward. However, recently there have been rumors that Assensio is ready to return to the field.

[bangjoe]

PSG's victory yesterday brought them up to 3rd position from previously being in 5th position. I think they took advantage of the opportunity well because before the Rennes vs PSG match started, Brest was only able to draw against Toulouse so PSG could be more motivated to win the match. This is an important momentum for PSG to immediately return to the top of the standings and any less good results from their rival teams will be put to good use by them. Now PSG still have other work to do because their difference from Monaco is 2 points and with Monaco's consistency PSG might need more time but it doesn't rule out the possibility that it could be faster if Monaco loses concentration to maintain their position.

The two-point difference between Monaco and PSG should not be a heavy burden for Enrique, especially about Nice which is only one point difference.
PSG is a strong and big team in the French league, maybe they are quite exhausted because they focus on two leagues, so their concentration and performance are quite decreased, so it is natural for the beginning of this season they are targeting UCL first compared to their own domestic league.

Two points is not a tough task, but I hope Enrique should not just ignore it and take it too lightly, he must be aware that two significant players at PSG are not there to ruffle the enemy's defense like last season.

[Raflesia]

If it is based on actual opportunities in every match PSG should be able to score a lot of goals, it's just that the final solution is still not very good as if it limits them but on the other hand with the 4-3-3 formation they do at least there is something good because their finishing is starting to improve.
It's just that in this case in some matches it seems that Enrique always wants to try more things with the schemes they have which actually makes the players have to start and adapt to new positions.

Now with Enrique's condition that continues to be glimpsed by many people I think he should show his full strength not just try schemes in several matches which actually hurts his own credibility as a coach because of unfavourable results.
A win against Rennes would be a good stepping stone for PSG to re-establish their dominance in Ligue 1 especially with only Starsbourg next week before a tough match against Milan in the Champions League.

Luis Enrique should not have made many experimental changes to find the best formation tactics because he should really focus on looking for wins and victories. 4-3-3 is quite good because this formation makes it easier for their players to really understand the actual position. Instead of the 4-2-3-1 formation where Mbappe did not play in his actual position which made it difficult for him in the match.

It's possible that Luis Enrique wants to make a big change by trying a new scheme, but this is not the right time to implement a new scheme because PSG really needs a win in order to reclaim the top standings from Monaco. Yes, Rennes victory is good capital for them to continue on the winning path and return to the top of the standings. In the Champions League they also have to focus on winning again after being humiliated by Newcastle United.

It's not wrong to want to try something new to be their preferred option to make a difference to the scheme, but when they try in a position that could be difficult for PSG and Enrique himself, then I think it's a mistake.
In this case Enrique has to prioritise because if he continues to try, it will be a gamble considering his position could be at stake in this case.
He has to realise that PSG is under scrutiny and performing well is the right thing to do so that he doesn't lose the trust of the fans and the club management.

Btw there is currently news that Marseille have been acquired by investors from the middle east, I have not seen any further news on this, but if this is true then this will be a problem for PSG.

[snipie]

In this case Enrique has to prioritise because if he continues to try, it will be a gamble considering his position could be at stake in this case.
He has to realise that PSG is under scrutiny and performing well is the right thing to do so that he doesn't lose the trust of the fans and the club management.

Luis Enrique has to improve the performance of his players and figure out the best way to get 3 points most of the time.
The way PSG is doing is unacceptable for long term since they risk to get out of Champions League and even risk Ligue 1.

Btw there is currently news that Marseille have been acquired by investors from the middle east, I have not seen any further news on this, but if this is true then this will be a problem for PSG.

There is news about a group associated with Saudi Arabia trying to buy Marseille in Ligue 1 and Valencia in La Liga. I assume they will take some times before finishing their deals and it will not have big impact this season.

[Weawant]

The first of the matches I'm looking forward to next match week will be Nice vs Marseille. Nice have made a good start to the season and are undefeated in 8 games. I think they can be one of the title contenders while doing so well. A possible win against Marseille could give them more confidence. Of course, they are behind teams like PSG and Monaco in terms of scoring goals, but I would like to underline that they are the only team without a defeat yet. Since Marseille will also focus on European games, it seems likely that Nice will win this match.

Nice wants to have a year full of real success this year and they are taking firm steps on this path because look, they have not suffered a defeat yet. Let us also remind you that they defeated PSG and Monaco away. Nice was the winner in both big matches. Of course, they can win against Marseille if they are lucky.

I still stand in suprises and shock how Nice is making not to the second position on the table this season and the champions is a step behind at the third position, indeed I must say Nice is having a good season so far, without a start player they made it this far staying unbeaten, even the team toping the table now (Monaco) suffered a loss with Nice, so did the champions PSG.

I think they will stand a chance to finish tops if they maintain this record and try adding some more wins as they have mostly draws more than they have wins, if PSG eventually picks up form and probably improve their tactics and better positioning of players as this has been the most challenge faced by the coach in recent time, they may definitely displace Monaco and Nice to get to the top of the table and probably become the champions again but then we will have to wait till mid season and hope to see PSG improve.

[MinoRaiola]

PSG in recent times have not been outstanding as they used to be in the Ligue 1 previously, they have a slight decline in performance recently which somehow has been blamed on the signing done this season but then I think these players have gotten almost enough time to prove how good they can be, which they have proven slightly but their position in the standing is becoming disturbing as they are not making significant progress.

They are only 2 points behind AS Monaco, that is not much to 1st place. Paris currently not playing so nice as they do it in the last seasons, you are right. They have lost only 1 game in the league, which is still a good performance in 8 games. And Kolo Muani scored his second goal, nur he needs to score a lot more though. Paris will go from game to game and will soon take the 1st place in the league again.

[Rengga Jati]

-snip-=

It is not the end yes, but it makes the situation a lot worse for PSG because it was also a crushing defeat, which means that when both teams have the same number of points in the group, it would probably be Newcastle to advance.

After this, they need more efforts to be more optimal in each match. They also realize that they are in the most competitive group in the UCL. So, even once they miss an opportunity, this will have a bad impact on the club. They still have to face another tough group, and it might not be easy. This is a burden for PSG, at least they have to qualify for the group. The previous defeat should have been a very valuable lesson for PSG.

PSG can still change their performance in the Champions League this season because they can correct this defeat if they manage to win in the upcoming match. AC Milan and Dortmund also achieved a draw in yesterday's match so PSG is still superior enough to be able to secure 2nd place if in the upcoming match they are able to get 3 points. The crushing defeat to Newcastle United is indeed a valuable lesson for PSG to be able to perform better in the next 4 matches.

At least, fortunately, Milan and Dortmund yesterday ended in a draw. So PSG's points are still above Milan. However, it is still very competitive and it is not yet certain who will be in the top 2, because there are still many more matches in the future. Of course, this could still turn out to be an opportunity for PSG to correct yesterday's mistakes. Even next week, they also have to face Milan, who are actually one of the strongest in the group. This will be the deciding match between the two next week.

[CLS63]

PSG's job looks really difficult this season surely. That embarrassing loss against Newcastle in the Champions League made me think that it will be even more challenging for PSG to qualify for last 16 stage. Milan should be even tougher to defeat for PSG on paper. Seeing PSG in the Europa League would be devastating for the fans.

I even doubt their chance to win the Ligue 1 title for now. Because they aren't so different here either. They play their league matches really inconsistently. They win 4-0 against Marseille but can't even score against Clermont for example. Monaco and Nice are taking advantage of the situation for now. Maybe we can see a new champion this season.

[Oluwa-btc]

PSG's job looks really difficult this season surely. That embarrassing loss against Newcastle in the Champions League made me think that it will be even more challenging for PSG to qualify for last 16 stage. Milan should be even tougher to defeat for PSG on paper. Seeing PSG in the Europa League would be devastating for the fans.

I even doubt their chance to win the Ligue 1 title for now. Because they aren't so different here either. They play their league matches really inconsistently. They win 4-0 against Marseille but can't even score against Clermont for example. Monaco and Nice are taking advantage of the situation for now. Maybe we can see a new champion this season.

Rest assured, Luis Enrique will gets things done in the next few games and even if they don't get to qualify for thee Champions League round of sixteen they will be demoted back to play  Europa League and that I'm sure they will no longer than the Champions League.
They won't be the first to get mad. They will need for improvements and consistency so they don't go looking for trouble and three points when not necessarily needed.

They still have chances of making it to the top four. The top four won't be hard, youz should see the way the did so.Top four is our number one priority to save.

[Leviathan.007]

PSG's job looks really difficult this season surely. That embarrassing loss against Newcastle in the Champions League made me think that it will be even more challenging for PSG to qualify for last 16 stage. Milan should be even tougher to defeat for PSG on paper. Seeing PSG in the Europa League would be devastating for the fans.

I even doubt their chance to win the Ligue 1 title for now. Because they aren't so different here either. They play their league matches really inconsistently. They win 4-0 against Marseille but can't even score against Clermont for example. Monaco and Nice are taking advantage of the situation for now. Maybe we can see a new champion this season.

They also had hard days before and in the last season when PSG had many superstar players, not when PSG lost players and they couldn't buy alternative players to fill the place of Messi and Neymar in their team, obviously, we are going to see worse performances from PSG and sometimes they can be even embarrassing because of the results they get and it seems even Enrique couldn't really help PSG to get in the good form because so far they had poor performance even in the French League.
  

[poodle63]

In this case Enrique has to prioritise because if he continues to try, it will be a gamble considering his position could be at stake in this case.
He has to realise that PSG is under scrutiny and performing well is the right thing to do so that he doesn't lose the trust of the fans and the club management.

Luis Enrique has to improve the performance of his players and figure out the best way to get 3 points most of the time.
The way PSG is doing is unacceptable for long term since they risk to get out of Champions League and even risk Ligue 1.

Btw there is currently news that Marseille have been acquired by investors from the middle east, I have not seen any further news on this, but if this is true then this will be a problem for PSG.

There is news about a group associated with Saudi Arabia trying to buy Marseille in Ligue 1 and Valencia in La Liga. I assume they will take some times before finishing their deals and it will not have big impact this season.

Enrique has an old vision of football. He used old strategy. Winning the game in league 1 didn't even impress me with the performance from PSG. In fact, PSG is not in save position right now caused by the club can also go out from UCL anytime.
The next match will be easy match for PSG. Enrique needs to implement the modern football strategy instead of focusing into the ball possession which was not really helpful for PSG once it was facing strong club in UCL.
Enrique needs to learn from the last match against newcastle about how useless its old vision is. The trend of tiki taka already gone. Enrique needs to aware of it. The modern football was putting more focus into the attacking lines.

[temple]

Enrique has an old vision of football. He used old strategy. Winning the game in league 1 didn't even impress me with the performance from PSG. In fact, PSG is not in save position right now caused by the club can also go out from UCL anytime.
The next match will be easy match for PSG. Enrique needs to implement the modern football strategy instead of focusing into the ball possession which was not really helpful for PSG once it was facing strong club in UCL.
Enrique needs to learn from the last match against newcastle about how useless its old vision is. The trend of tiki taka already gone. Enrique needs to aware of it. The modern football was putting more focus into the attacking lines.

I think one of the biggest problems of managers is when they get a management position at a new club and they have players that are mostly different from the players they have managed before. Luis Enrique is kind of stuck with the Barcelona football he had his team play when he was the Manager when Messi and some other players were still there. When a manager plays a system with one team, it doesn't mean that the same system works with a different team as well. This is also a quality of a manager, to adapt to the differing qualities of other players in another team. I am not sure that Enrique is good enough to achieve a successful adaptation.

[rendravolt]

How do you see Monaco's journey so far? Wouldn't it be quite surprising if they were able to occupy the top of the standings in week 8. Moreover, since the start of the season they have only experienced 1 defeat and at that time the team that managed to beat them was Nice, who are currently just below Monaco. Could Monaco be PSG's toughest competitor this season? considering that it is no longer possible for Lens to compete with PSG again like last season. However, we know that PSG is currently trying to take their place from Monaco and therefore they cannot waste any match and must be more consistent to win.

[Litzki1990]

In this case Enrique has to prioritise because if he continues to try, it will be a gamble considering his position could be at stake in this case.
He has to realise that PSG is under scrutiny and performing well is the right thing to do so that he doesn't lose the trust of the fans and the club management.

Luis Enrique has to improve the performance of his players and figure out the best way to get 3 points most of the time.
The way PSG is doing is unacceptable for long term since they risk to get out of Champions League and even risk Ligue 1.

Btw there is currently news that Marseille have been acquired by investors from the middle east, I have not seen any further news on this, but if this is true then this will be a problem for PSG.

There is news about a group associated with Saudi Arabia trying to buy Marseille in Ligue 1 and Valencia in La Liga. I assume they will take some times before finishing their deals and it will not have big impact this season.

Enrique has an old vision of football. He used old strategy. Winning the game in league 1 didn't even impress me with the performance from PSG. In fact, PSG is not in save position right now caused by the club can also go out from UCL anytime.
The next match will be easy match for PSG. Enrique needs to implement the modern football strategy instead of focusing into the ball possession which was not really helpful for PSG once it was facing strong club in UCL.
Enrique needs to learn from the last match against newcastle about how useless its old vision is. The trend of tiki taka already gone. Enrique needs to aware of it. The modern football was putting more focus into the attacking lines.

As times change, a manager has to change the strategy of the game as well. In every match you have to enter the field with a new strategy so that the manager of the opposite team does not catch their own strategy. If every match is played with the same strategy, then it will not be difficult to plan the opposite team, as a result of which it is not possible for the opposite team to do better in that match against PSG. 

At one time it was a very easy task for PSG to win Ligue 1 but this simple task has become a very difficult task for them this season. At the end of the season, there are doubts whether this team will be able to stay in the top 5 positions in Ligue 1. Other teams in League One are performing well, so if they want to compete with them, they must change their plans and tactics and perform well on the field, only then PSG can be among the top five in this league.

[Silence Scream]

PSG's job looks really difficult this season surely. That embarrassing loss against Newcastle in the Champions League made me think that it will be even more challenging for PSG to qualify for last 16 stage. Milan should be even tougher to defeat for PSG on paper. Seeing PSG in the Europa League would be devastating for the fans.

I even doubt their chance to win the Ligue 1 title for now. Because they aren't so different here either. They play their league matches really inconsistently. They win 4-0 against Marseille but can't even score against Clermont for example. Monaco and Nice are taking advantage of the situation for now. Maybe we can see a new champion this season.

They also had hard days before and in the last season when PSG had many superstar players, not when PSG lost players and they couldn't buy alternative players to fill the place of Messi and Neymar in their team, obviously, we are going to see worse performances from PSG and sometimes they can be even embarrassing because of the results they get and it seems even Enrique couldn't really help PSG to get in the good form because so far they had poor performance even in the French League.
  

PSG's surprise performances this year are not acceptable. I mean, I can actually accept it considering those who left the team, but if you are such a big team, then you have to compensate for those deficiencies with new players. It seems like Dembele still hasn't been able to fix that deficiency. The championship in League 1 was certain, but that is not certain anymore.

[bering]

How do you see Monaco's journey so far? Wouldn't it be quite surprising if they were able to occupy the top of the standings in week 8. Moreover, since the start of the season they have only experienced 1 defeat and at that time the team that managed to beat them was Nice, who are currently just below Monaco. Could Monaco be PSG's toughest competitor this season? considering that it is no longer possible for Lens to compete with PSG again like last season. However, we know that PSG is currently trying to take their place from Monaco and therefore they cannot waste any match and must be more consistent to win.

Monaco performance was quite impressive this season and at least until week 8 Monaco can occupy first place but their position is far from secure because distance points between them with Nice is only 1 point so if they lose for next match i think other team can overtake their current position and indeed if we compared to their performance to last season Monaco much better this season seems Monaco new manager Adi Hütter has bringing positive impact to this team

Monaco has successfully to improved their weaknesses and some of new players just like Folarin Balogun and Denis Zakaria can adapt quickly with the team besides that do not forget the performance of Minamino under new manager also has been increases rapidly so in my opinion these one of causes why Monaco can able to performing well and occupy first place on standings league but Monaco has the biggest weaknesses that they have a problem with their consistency because i still remember last season they almost finish at european zone but Monaco was unable to performing well and lose several times which makes their position was overtaked by Lille at the end of season and this became an Adi Hütter jobs to make Monaco more consistent this season

[len01]

-snip

PSG's surprise performances this year are not acceptable. I mean, I can actually accept it considering those who left the team, but if you are such a big team, then you have to compensate for those deficiencies with new players. It seems like Dembele still hasn't been able to fix that deficiency. The championship in League 1 was certain, but that is not certain anymore.

at the moment, its not just PSG, I think even all the teams in League 1 are not yet stable and in terms of consistency they are very low, such as PSG, Lens and Marseille have not provided consistent or unstable performances. so I am not too worried about this because the match is still very long and there are still lots of opportunities for the top teams to improve the quality their performance and for now I think that Dembele still looks good when playing for PSG, its just that his performance looks less than optimal and on the one hand not only Dembele, Mbappe, the teams mainstay player, has also been performing less than perfect lately.

[topbitcoin]

PSG's job looks really difficult this season surely. That embarrassing loss against Newcastle in the Champions League made me think that it will be even more challenging for PSG to qualify for last 16 stage. Milan should be even tougher to defeat for PSG on paper. Seeing PSG in the Europa League would be devastating for the fans.

I even doubt their chance to win the Ligue 1 title for now. Because they aren't so different here either. They play their league matches really inconsistently. They win 4-0 against Marseille but can't even score against Clermont for example. Monaco and Nice are taking advantage of the situation for now. Maybe we can see a new champion this season.

Their defeat doesn't have much impact on the current probabilities as they remain the favorites to qualify, it's just that they have to be extra in the next few matches and don't let them back down. This is only 2 matches and there are still 4 matches left for each club including PSG. In terms of position, they are still perched in 2nd place because it is fortunate that Milan and Dortmund played a draw.
They are still the strongest candidate to qualify for the group phase, it's just that their efforts must now be greater if they really want to qualify comfortably, especially with the acquisition of points that are still very close so that once they lose again then this becomes bad.