Many of France’s best marksmen are raring to get back to league action after the well-earned rest of the international break. With not everyone involved in matches over the last fortnight, there are some top notch strikers looking to add to their goal tally with a strike or two this weekend.
We’ve collated four of our best picks for this week of French football, including eight Ligue 1 matches and the Coupe de la Ligue final between Strasbourg and Guingamp. With the season entering the business end, there is a lot to be won and strikers will be a big component of every team’s success or demise. Take a look at our selection for this weekend’s anytime goalscorer market.
You can find all the match previews for our Ligue 1 matches by clicking here.
Mario Balotelli, 30th March, MARSEILLE (4th) vs Angers (12th)
Our first pick is a name common to pretty much every football fan across Europe, it’s Mario Balotelli. Despite the big Italian not enjoying the first half of his season at Nice as he clashed with managed Patrick Vieira and basically refused to put in a performance, he has completely turned his campaign around since his move to Marseille. He has averaged a goal every 108 minutes since joining and while he didn’t score in his last game before the break, that was in the capital against PSG which is a fair excuse for many players.
Stay on your toes 💯
⚪️ @FinallyMario 🔵 pic.twitter.com/amDYm7cJxF
— Olympique Marseille (@OM_English) March 25, 2019
The 28-year-old’s performances have been excellent as he has brought the best out of everyone around him and contributed with goals as well. His team Marseille currently sit 4th in Ligue 1 and host 12th placed Angers who are winless in their last four games. We’re predicting Marseille to win comfortably and with Balotelli on a run of four goals in his last six starts, we’re backing him to be a big part of that.
You can click here to go to our full match preview for Angers’ trip to Marseille.
Ludovic Ajorque, 31st March, STRASBOURG (10th) vs Guingamp (18th)
Our second choice is a bit more of an underground choice but those who don’t follow French football should definitely take note of Ludovic Ajorque. The almost two metre tall striker made the step up to Ligue 1 in the summer after a 14 goal season with Grenoble Foot and has managed to adapt pretty well to top tier football with eight goals in 20 matches this season. His club Strasbourg are set to play Guingamp in the French League Cup (Coupe de la Ligue) final this weekend. Guingamp currently sit 18th in Ligue 1 and we’re backing Ajorque to score in what we think will be a win for his team.
Ludovic Ajorque this season:
• 20 Games
• 15 Starts
• 8 Goals
• 2 Assists
• 122’ Per Goal InvolvementA star player in his first season at Strasbourg. He only cost £1.8m pic.twitter.com/dAUhvuq8HF
— Mitchell (@Procter__) March 9, 2019
The Frenchman has a pretty good ratio in the cup competitions as he has scored twice in his last two Coupe de la Ligue matches. Ajorque also scored twice in his last Ligue 1 match with a brace against Lyon so he should be on pretty high spirits ahead of this game. This will also be his first cup final with Strasbourg so he will be desperate to set his name up in lights here. At pretty good value of 13/5 we’re electing Ajorque as one of our choices for this weekend’s football.
Radamel Falcao, 31st March, MONACO (16th) vs Caen (20th)
Radamel Falcao missed Monaco’s last match against Lille through suspension but he should walk right back into the side as his form has been electric recently. The striker has scored four goals in his last five games for Monaco and picked up another over the break with his national side Colombia. Despite being 33 years of age, he has really failed to drop off in form as he sits on twelve goals in 25 league games this season.
Falcao in 2018/19:
⦁ 12 goals in 22 starts
⦁ Directly involved in 47% of Monaco's Ligue 1 goals
⦁ Third top-scorer over 33 in Europe's top five leaguesStill got it 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ctAIlUaUaL
— Goal (@goal) March 16, 2019
His last few matches in particular have showed how fit he still is as he hit 18 shots on his last five league games. His team Monaco have been on the rise recently and with them facing bottom side Caen, we’re backing him to be central in what we’re predicting to be a pretty straightforward win for les Monegasques.
Click here to go to our full match preview for the Monaco vs Caen game.
Nicolas Pépé, 31st March, Nantes (15th) vs LILLE (2nd)
The league’s 2nd placed side Lille have slightly gone off form recently but we’re backing them to get back to winning ways this weekend against Nantes. The Canaries sit 15th in Ligue 1 and with Lille reinvigorated following the international break we’re expecting them to win this match, especially away from home where they have the second best record in the league.
Most goals + assists in Ligue 1 this season:
🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappé (32)
🇫🇷 Nicolas Pépé (25)
🇺🇾 Edinson Cavani (20)
🇫🇷 Florian Thauvin (20)
🇧🇷 Neymar (19)Unreal. Mbappe is still just 20 years old. pic.twitter.com/4FFcQwocpt
— ThoxSports (@ThoxSports) March 26, 2019
Their top scorer Nicolas Pépé has only scored once in his last six Ligue 1 matches despite having 17 for the season but he managed to get back on track over the break as he got a goal for Ivory Coast against Rwanda. It was a much needed goal for Pépé and one we think will set him on a good run after he did everything but score in his last Lille match against Monaco. The winger has been heavily linked with Bayern Munich recently and he will want to continue impressing to keep that transfer alive so we’re backing him to get on the scoresheet here against some pretty weak opponents. For a play of his calibre, 15/8 is pretty nice value so we’re making him the final player on our list for the weekend.
Check out our full match preview by clicking here.
We’ve collated the four bets into an acca below so just click the banner to add it to your betslip:
