French Soccer League Predictions and Discussion Thread (Ligue 1)

[pawel7777]

A modest win is still a win. In the only game of today, Marseille defeated Auxerre at home and worked out a 3-point buffer that separates them from 4th Olympique Lyon.
Lyon are playing Le Havre (currently 14th in the table) on Sunday, and I expect them to win.

Auxerre is now in a tough spot, they are only two points ahead of Nantes (and the relegation zone) but Nantes have one game more to play. The problem is Nantes will play their game of matchday 26 later (on 20 April) and it will be against PSG, so they are not escaping the relegation zone anytime soon.

As PSG are not playing this weekend, Lens will have a chance to drop them off the leader position and put some mental pressure on them. To do that, Lens have to beat Lorient in an away game, which might not be easy as Lorient lost only once in their last 5 league games.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Hope advantage played a vital role in the game between PSG and Chelsea but the performance of PSG doesn't look like what could be questioned when they go for the second leg where Chelsea will have the hope advantage over them because 5:2 win with a good performance means a lot and if Chelsea will make it tough for them then they have to start it very early with scoring of goals because PSG will not only defend they will also come out to look for goals to make the job more difficult for Chelsea. There will be 3 goals I nthr second leg but the performance of Chelsea will not stop them from scoring but winning without PSG not scoring is going to be impossible unless PSG will be reduced to 9 players.

There's something very specific that almost all the teams that go to the UCL have: the teams rise to the occasion, they play like never before, the level they show in these competitions is very high Remember what happened in the Club World Cup? PSG has it in for Chelsea, they won't rest until they get their revenge, that's why they're playing like this Now, there's still only one game left, Chelsea's last chance, let's see their reaction.

[len01]

The odds of 1.88 for Lens are very high, I wouldn't be surprised if Lens lost this match. My current considerations are only the BTTS and Under options. Although the odds of BTTS (yes) are almost the same as the odds of a win for Lens, I still think it's the better choice.

Indeed, slightly higher odds for the away team make bettors a little hesitant, and I think @1.88 for a guaranteed win is an unrealistic amount. If you choose to bet on BTTS, it's a reasonable choice because I also assume that if Lorient can put up a fight from the start, there's a chance both teams will score, even if the final result is random.

Honestly, I prefer betting on the second half to increase my chances of winning, and I'm interested in betting on the total corners.

[Jessie2121]

Tomorrow there will be a pretty interesting match, and it will surely make people wonder whether Lens can beat Lorient.

From my perspective, even though Lorient is below Lens in the standings and doesn’t look very convincing, playing at home will give the host team an advantage. It’s not that I doubt Lens’ performance, but I did think there might be a chance for Lorient to hold the match to a draw. On the other hand, the away team really needs 3 points to keep competing with PSG at the top of the table.

What do you think?

Lens will be more than glad to beat Lorient knowing very well that it will be their chance of becoming the number 1 team in the Ligue 1 since PSG have their game postponed so they won't try to mess this golden opportunity, if Lens win they have to pray for PSG to either lose or draw against Nante which I think will be very hard because if PSG drop point it becomes a difficult battle to get back up. For me I want Lens to win this league at least a change of power even if is this season, tired of seeing PSG as champions all season.

[Velvet78]

This week Lens have a more difficult game to play compared to PSG. Lorient are one of the good home teams in the league with only 1 loss in 12 games so far. But PSG are hosting Nantes who are one of the most likely teams to relegate...

This race for the best striker bores me a bit, there are honestly no great talents like there used to be and this ranking already seems obvious to me, even if i have to say that I'm not surprised that Dembele is not there, who is still an excellent player even if he is not in the running for the title, a great striker

I would agree with that. Great talents don't prefer to stay in the Ligue 1 mostly which I understand. And Dembélé isn't naturally a striker of course. He has played as RW during most of his career so far.

However Luis Enrique prefers him as CF most of the time. This can change if PSG makes a reliable striker signing of course. I would like to see Dembélé back in his original position. 

[pawel7777]

As I'm holding a long-term bet on Lens to win the league, I obviously wish them to win today against Lorient. Odds on Lens are quite high on some of the sites and they look tempting, but before placing bets, there are things you need to consider:
- Lorient have the highest in the league average points-per-game difference between home and away games: +1.07 points, on average, in favour of home games. The statement that clubs tend to perform better at home is most true for Lorient out of all Ligue 1 clubs.
- Lorient have not lost a game at home since August 2025 (when they got massacred by Lille 7-1). That's 6.5 months without a loss at home, which includes hosting PSG when they drew 1-1. How likely are Lens to break this trend?
- Lorient have the most draws in the league. When it comes to the number of losses (currently 7), they rank the same as some of the top clubs like Marseille or Lyon.

So, statistically speaking, a split of points seems quite likely in this game. I hope I'm wrong though.