French Football 
/ James Eastham / 24 February 2011 / Leave a Comment "There are three good reasons to oppose Ligue 1 leaders Lille when they host title rivals Lyon at Stade Metropole on Sunday night."
PSG are always great value for entertainment and their dodgy defence means overs backers are rewarded. So have Toulouse got the attack to exploit them? Meanwhile, James Eastham fancies Lyon to cause Lille problems on a potato patch.
PSG v Toulouse - Sun, kick-off 16:00 UK time
After going a couple of games without scoring (1-0 defeat at Rennes and 0-0 home draw v Lens) PSG bounced back into form last weekend with a 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Nice. A sprightly performance from Nene was one of the biggest reasons behind their improvement: after a poor month by his own standards, the Brazilian left-winger was involved in all three goals on a day when the capital club had 11 shots on target.
PSG's chances of producing another high-scoring performance are higher than you would normally expect because Toulouse's fourth-choice goalkeeper, Ali Ahamada, will start. Yohann Pele, Mathieu Valverde and Marc Vidal (who went off injured last weekend) are all unavailable, so 20-year-old Ahamada - whose first task after coming on as a substitute against Rennes last weekend was to pick the ball out of the net when the visitors scored a penalty - will make his first senior start.
PSG will be confident in attack but are always liable to concede because they grant opponents so many scoring opportunities. Antoine Kombouare's side have kept just two clean sheets in their last 15 league games, so if Toulouse are just slightly more accurate than they were last weekend, when they twice hit the woodwork, the three-goal barrier should be broken.
Lille v Lyon - Sun, 20:00
There are three good reasons to oppose Ligue 1 leaders Lille when they host title rivals Lyon at Stade Metropole on Sunday night. The first is that Lille are experiencing their worst form since moving to the top of the table in December. Last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Montpelier was their first league loss since October 24 but no surprise considering how poorly they'd played in two of their previous three games (against Lens, 1-0, and Auxerre, 1-1). Lyon, in contrast, are in fabulous form: they put four past local rivals St Etienne (4-1) a fortnight ago and followed up with four more against Nancy (4-0) last weekend.
Fatigue is the second factor. Lille have played 39 games to Lyon's 34 this season. Just 18 outfield players have started league games for Lille, and four of those have started just once. Lyon coach Claude Puel has a larger pool of players to pick from so has been able to rest some of his more important players more regularly.
Lyon have had a couple more days to prepare for this game: they hosted Real Madrid in the Champions League (1-1) on Tuesday night, whereas Lille faced PSV Eindhoven away from home in the Europa League on Thursday night. Those extra couple of days of preparation may prove crucial when the sides take to the field.
The field is the third factor: it resembles a potato patch at the moment, which is a major handicap for a side like Lille who enjoy playing fast, precise football on the ground. Lyon prefer knocking the ball around, too, but have been excellent from set-pieces in the past few weeks as Yoann Gourcuff has finally found his range from corners and free-kicks. In a game where aerial accuracy might prove crucial, Lyon have the upper hand.
Lille are too short at [2.24] to win. Either lay the hosts at [2.26], or back Lyon +0&+0.5 Asian handicap at [2.02].
Best Bet: Lyon +0&+0.5 Asian handicap at Lille @ [2.02].
Other Recommended Bet: PSG v Toulouse over 2.5 goals @ [2.16].
PSG are always great value for entertainment and their dodgy defence means overs backers are rewarded. So have Toulouse got the attack to exploit them? Meanwhile, James Eastham fancies Lyon to cause Lille problems on a potato patch....
The ever-in-form James Eastham talks us through his best selections ahead of another weekend of Ligue 1 action....
Lille are still six points clear at the top of Ligue 1 but they could have been further ahead had both Marseille and Lyon not come from behind to win tough away matches. But a tiring side and a poor...
No comments:
Post a Comment