The French Ligue 1 kicks off at Dr-Bet.com with our French footnall expert, Sebastien Granjon, previewing the second week of the Championnat.

Brest – Auxerre

Brest are back in Ligue 1 after the many years of financial troubles especially in the 90’s and the beginning of 2000’s and after a period in the CFA (4th division). This monumental French team (of Stéphane Guivarch, Vincent Guérin, Paul Le Guen, Claude Makélélé, Corentin Martins…) has to regain its reputation after two decades away from the top.
Promoted as an outsider, the team is counting on some very solid players: Elana as goalkeeper, Kantari and Daf in defence, and Bigné and Ewolo in midfield. Their attack is quite young and remains the unknown factor. Coached by Alex Dupont, well known for his great results with Sedan 10 years ago, this team has all the ingredients to remain and prosper in this division.

However they started last Saturday with a 2-0 defeat at Toulouse, which was quite logical as Toulouse were so much stronger. For this second match of the championship, they’ll host another one of last season’s solid Ligue1 teams, Auxerre, who have definite ambitions for the new season, especially in the Champions league.

Auxerre are surely better equipped than Brest, 3rd last season after a really surprising one, Auxerre will have to confirm their position and that’s always much harder than expected.
The good hope for them is that they have kept their most important players for this new season: Jelen and Pedretti, the explosive offensive duo, are still there, but they count only one interesting newcomer: Anthony LeTallec. He has been very unstable since his beginning, but should find in Auxerre, the stability he missed after his departure to Liverpool.

Actually he has already scored a goal this season against Lorient, even though it didn’t allow his team to win. But a draw against Lorient, who show some promise of being a really strong team this season, is already a good result. Already focused on Champions league qualification against Zenith St-Petersburg, Auxerre could take time to start their season.

In this first challenge since 1991, both teams should open the game very quickly. Brest have to make a good start at home, especially after their first defeat and Auxerre need to count on their excellent offensive duo who have already scored 2 goals against the very solid defence of Lorient. Impossible to think about the H2H but I think we could see an interesting match with goals, especially if Auxerre should score quickly.

• Over 2.5 Goals
• Auxerre to win

Lorient – Nice

Lorient, 7th last season, are building a solid team season by seasons, coached by the tactical Christian Gourcuff, still there in Britanny. Lorient succeeded with a great deal by selling Koscielny to Arsenal for 14,000,000 €. Far from being so rich usually, Lorient have had enough money, this season, to recruit new talent even though they still prefer to bet on youth and haven’t spent much yet: Lamine Koné, a defender from Chateauroux, and Bruno Ecuele Manga, an other excellent defender from Angers. If they haven’t recruited many in attack, it’s because they already have the players they need, they kept Kevin Gameiro, the young 2nd best scorer of last season, Robert who already scored last Saturday or even Fanchone. In midfield, they are very solid too with Amalfitano, Roma and Mvuemba. This team is serious and reinforced so we’ll have to count on them for that next season. Even if I don’t think they are a potential European qualifier, they have enough talent to be not far from it.

For their first away match at Auxerre, they drew 2-2. Quite unsatisfying as they were winning before getting an important 2nd goal to keep a point from there, but Lorient is essential a home win maker (only 2 defeats last seasons at home) so they should be once again the most dangerous at home, in Britanny.

Nice have been very discreet and shy for this between-season without much activity and only one important sale, Onyekachi transferred for 4,000,000€ to Rennes. The main problem for Nice was their bad finances in that crisis period and as in France, there’s a yearly control to check the deficits, Nice was limited in their recruiting. The result is a team which didn’t change much, except that one departure. We can expect quite a good start from Nice as they have a stable team compared to last season but I don’t think they’ll succeed in following the intense level of Ligue 1 until the end of season and should finish amongst the bottom places.

For their first match at home, they didn’t do better than a 0-0 draw against Valenciennes. Quite disappointing but quite logical if compared to their poor results in the friendlies. Nice is a weak team away too and let’s remember they lost 4-1 last season at Lorient. This long trip should be complicated for the Reds and Blacks.
Another important advantage for Lorient should be the synthetic grass installed for this season. It’s always harder to play on, especially when teams are not used to it and I think that Lorient, who have had a week to train on it, will have the advantage over Nice.

• Lorient to win

Monaco – Montpellier

Monaco have an advantage over other Ligue 1 teams thanks to their special status, we need to remember that Monaco is an independent Principality which has very interesting financial advantages such as no taxes. It has always been interesting to see players who come to Monaco for money, rather than the sporting challenge. That’s surely been the main problem for the team over the last 10 years and that’s surely why they have changed their recruiting approach this season,. From the first there was no big transfer, they stayed quite calm and didn’t spend much money. They minimized their squad with many end of contract departures, especially by young players, and in return they brought back some interesting players like Puygrenier, Gakpé, Nimani. Some interesting reinforcements have arrived such as Aubameyang from AC Milan or even Niculae from Auxerre. This team, who will play without Néné in attack (sold to Paris), seem quite solid and able to enjoy a good season. The question is, will they do better than last season’s 8th place, which is a mystery because at Monaco, the environment is always a source of problems. Too many occasions to have a good time in the city, a luxurious lifestyle, few fans to give much pressure, Monaco is surely the hardest place to manage. If the coach Guy Lacombe succeeds in keeping his players focussed almost all the time, this might still not be enough to get them into the top 5.

Monaco are the champion of good starts every season and I don’t think it should change after what we saw at Lyon, very offensive and aggressive, this team produced a beautiful game and if goalkeepers had not been that strong, surely we would have had a lot of goals. Monaco did quite well in their friendlies, proof of their good efficiency at the beginning of the season.

Montpellier are going to start their second consecutive season in Ligue 1, yes… only the 2nd one after fighting for the title last season !! With a good 5th place, we expected a good start for this new season but it started really badly by elimination from the Europa League by Gyor, a Hungarian team. This brings many regrets for Montpellier especially as they had all the cards in their hands to win without too many problems.
As expected Montpellier lost some key players who had helped them to shine last season: Victor Montano transferred to Rennes and Alberto Costa to Valencia. Without these two players, Montpellier in my opinion is losing a big offensive potential, and we should see it quite quickly. However their defence stays solid especially at home where they don’t conceed many goals. Without the Europa League and important reinforcements, Montpellier should manage a place in mid-table.
Monaco is the black beast for Montpellier with 6 victories in 7 matches. Last season Monaco beat them 4-0 and, even though I don’t think the score will be the same, I think Monaco will win this contest once again.

• Monaco to win

Nancy – Rennes

Nancy have had a complicated summer with difficulty in front of the DNCG, the commission charged to check the finances of every professional club. Forced to sell players to stay optimistic, Nancy had to sell Issar Dia, one of their best scorers. However they succeeded in achieving a great transfer by recruiting Vahirua from Lorient. With the presence of Cuvillier, Gavanon and Helder, Nancy should keep the same team as last season with quite the same qualities and faults. In qualities we can count the great understanding between players, and as main fault, the poverty of their squad, which will be in serious trouble if they get some important injuries. Nancy don’t have many hopes for this season but they’d surely vote to end the season in the Top10. I think they are capable of getting a comfortable position in mid-table, but they can’t hope to do better.

They achieved their first victory at Lens, which is a good start, so even Lens could be in real difficulty this season. Nancy is solid and like Lorient, playing on a synthetic field could be an advantage against some teams.

Rennes have much bigger ambitions than Nancy and have already showed it in their buying of players. Though they let Briand go away (to Lyon), they got some very interesting reinforcements: Dalmat from Sochaux, who did a full season there, Onyekachi from Nice and Mandjeck from Stuttgart. Of course we can add Victor Montano, one of the best players for Montpellier last season. This team looks really well built and after a truly bad season with a poor 9th position, Rennes needs to react this season to conquer at least a good place (with an European qualification) and hoping, of course, for an eventual title too! This should be, in my opinion, a very strong team this season.

Although they drew 1-1 against Lille, Rennes dominated the match, which was excellent after playing some really bad friendlies. However the team is fit and should create problems for Nancy. The only uncertain point is the synthetic field, which is a real advantage for Nancy, especially as they have had a week to train on it. Rennes should feel the difference towards the end of the match and could let some points go away. However the offensive potential of Rennes should allow them to score at least a goal, especially as Nancy should too.

• Both teams to score

St-etienne – Sochaux

St-etienne are a team in total reconstruction after two really hard seasons. Searching for financial stability, they have changed part of their management and have let part of their squad go too: of whom Mirallas, Fernando, Tavlaridis, Planté, Varrault and Hautcoeur are the most well known. As well as these important departures, St-etienne haven’t recruited much and found only the experienced Marchal and the excellent American defender Bocanegra. St-etienne are searching for a defensive solidity which they missed a lot last season. So it is hard to know what we can expect from them this season, they did really well in the friendlies but their last match against Paris was really awful in defence. St-etienne shouldn’t be expected to reach the top of the table.
Their defeat against Paris last week was completely logical even though St-etienne produced some good football. The main problem of “Les Verts”, is their defence, still very weak under pressure. The newcomers still seem to be preparing and the attack is not aggressive enough.

Sochaux are in the same situation as well after an awful season too, which seems to be their regular place. Although they are still searching for a 2nd goalkeeper in case of injury, the Sochaux squad will be composed once again by very young players from their development division. Sochaux have always had excellent youth teams and it’s an excellent way to get new players. However if they put too many young players in at the same time as they did last year, they won’t have a strong enough squad to challenge the best. No big movements there except the departure of Stéphane Dalmat, in my opinion the best player for Sochaux last season and the coming of Maiga from Le Mans and Sauget from St-etienne. This team is really not equipped to play at the top and even though they won against Arles-Avignon last Saturday, the season promises to be complicated for the lions. The main reason they haven’t fallen to Ligue 2 yet is the solidarity and seriousness that they show.

St-etienne haven’t succeeded much against this team but at home and with a much better team, they should win this new challenge

• St-Etienne to win

Valenciennes – Marseille
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Valenciennes are quite comfortable in this division, since they came back some seasons ago. Far from competing with the best, Valenciennes count on their young talent each season to stay competitive and get a comfortable position away from the bottom of the table.

They had a good season with a 10th place and should try to confirm it. Same as the other average French teams, the inter-season was really quiet and although they saw the very useful Mamadou Samassa, going back to Marseille, they didn’t recruit much. This is an unchanged team compared to last season which should have a certain advantage at the beginning of the season. Their coach Philippe Montanier, is someone who is quite stable who will try to impose a beautiful game based on a solid defence. Valenciennes is as every season, a medium team.

For their first match away at Nice, they succeeded in drawing 0-0. No goal yet, but the potential of Valenciennes is stronger than we can imagine, especially at home where (except for last season) they have always been much more efficient.

Marseille are the 2010 champions and of course, expect to be the future ones. With a disappointing European tour, the Champions League should be a priority. But we can’t forget Ligue 1 too where they should be, this season, one of strongest teams. I say “one” and not “the” because Niang, their best scorer is expected somewhere else and should be leaving Marseille. Mamadou Niang doesn’t want to stay at Marseille this season and if he leaves the club, the team will undoubtedly be weaker than last year. Talking about departures, Koné and Morientes who didn’t play much last season won’t really miss their ex team. One interesting newcomer, Azpilicueta from Osasuna will try to replace Laurent Bonnart who didn’t sign a new contract with Marseille.

A big surprise last week as we expected a victory from Marseille against the young newly promoted Caen, back once again in Ligue 1. Finally it was Caen who got the 3pts, winning 2-1 against a Marseille still not fit for this new season. It’s not such a big shock as it’s quite common for a champion to start slowly in a new season. This is a team which should be much better by September and should be on the podium once again.

In this match, I see a Marseille team much more aggressive than their hosts, a second defeat would be badly received in La Canebière, but the defence is clearly not stable yet and a goal from Valenciennes wouldn’t be surprising. Over the last 4 years, Marseille have conceded a goal 3 times there. After what we saw against Caen, then if Valenciennes are somewhat aggressive, they should at least get a goal.

• Both teams to score

Arles-Avignon – Lens
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This is the first match at home in Ligue 1 for Arles-Avignon and that should prove to be a great celebration there, because they have had an incredible way up until now. Just imagine that they were in CFA2 (5th division) just 6 seasons ago. They even succeeded in being promoted to Ligue 1 while last year playing their first season in Ligue 2. Arles-Avignon is surely the surprise of the season and nobody expects them to get higher than the 18th place. However, what does that team really look like ?

Firstly the team’s main weapon is surely their coach Michel Estevan, the magician who brought them to Ligue 1 without much money but a big dose of talent, especially in his tactical choices and in motivating his players. He is a coach who had already had many offers from bigger clubs, but who decided to stay at Arles to try to bring his team to the echelons of the elite.

Surely this is the team who have had the most reinforcements with Abenzoar, Dja Djé Djé, Fanchone, Laurenti and Planté. All these players already experienced Ligue 1 so should be a precious help. Of course some players left the boat too like Dalé and Ayew, but in general the team kept their most important players and their incredible captain, Sébastien Piocelle, familiar with Ligue 1 after playing with Bastia some years ago.
Let’s be clear, the club doesn’t have the resources to fight in Ligue 1 against the biggest teams, however after all the success they have had in the past, already predicting them to return to Ligue 2 next season could be a mistake. I think they have the potential to finish around 13th-17th in the table.

Lens should be similar to Arles too because of the many financial troubles. If last season, their survival in Ligue 1 was doubtful because of important debts, they have succeeded in maintaining better financial health until now. For this season, the economics will stay an important factor and they once again have had to sell without any possibilities of buying replacements. Aruna left Lens for an unknown Qatarian club. This second season in Ligue 1 should be the hardest one for Lens as they’ll play the whole season with a small squad. They shouldn’t be far from an eventual relegation I’m afraid.

In this bottom of the table match, a victory will already be important to launch the season and I think Arles should have a good advantage. Arles showed good things at Sochaux and should play at 200% for their first match at home in Ligue 1, an historical moment to be celebrated with their fans. On the contrary, Lens start at home with a 1-2 defeat by Nancy showed that they were really much weaker than their opponents, the victory for Nancy seemed logical. No H2H for this first contest but the event should be strong for Arles and I expect with the euphoria of the occasion they will get their first victory in Ligue 1.

• Arles to win

Picks :

• Brest – Auxerre: Over 2.5 Goals at 2.50 (Bet365) or Auxerre to win at 2.50 (Bwin)
  
• Lorient – Nice: Lorient to win at 1.88 (Bwin)
  
• Monaco – Montpellier: Monaco to win at 2.50 (Bwin)
  
• Nancy – Rennes: Both teams to score at 1.90 (Bet365)
• St-etienne – Sochaux: St. Etienne to win at 1.91 (BWIN)
  
• Valenciennes – Marseille: Both teams to score at 1.90 (Bet365)
  
• Arles Avignon – Lens: Arles Avignon to win at 2.85 (Bwin)