Ligue 1 was one of the most exciting competitions to watch last season as we saw a number of incredible stories develop over the nine and a half months. Many clubs found their stride like Reims and Strasbourg who showed some incredible displays to affirm themselves in mid-table while a number of the more established teams took a hit. Marseille and Bordeaux had less than favourable years, but it was definitely Monaco who made the headlines with them not guaranteeing their survival until the final day.
A lot has changed since then though, with four new managers, two new clubs and a heap of new players raring to go ahead of the new season. So many clubs have undergone massive rebuilding processes over the summer, but will anyone be capable of knocking PSG off their perch at the top of the league? Many teams will be more focused on just staying in the league though. Like the new boys Stade Brestois 89 and FC Metz, for example. Will they be able to get to that magic 40 point mark? We’ve taken a look at a number of the outright markets for this coming season and you can read the reasoning behind our selections below.
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Ligue 1 Winners Prediction – Paris Saint-Germain
It’s no secret the dominance that PSG have held over French football in recent years. Their incredible financial backing has allowed them to attract some of Europe’s greatest talents to the capital with Kylian Mbappé and Edinson Cavani some of the highlights in what is an extremely talented pool of players at the Parc des Princes.
Despite some issues behind the scenes, they still managed to stroll towards the title last season with a 16 point lead over the trailing pack. Thomas Tuchel’s attacking brand of play largely complimented their playing squad and as a result they scored an incredible tally of 105 goals. It was a number slightly shy of Unai Emery’s final season where they scored 108 but the point still remains that they were unstoppable at times, going on a 14-match winning streak to kick-off the year.
There has been a lot of deliberation over Neymar’s position at the club following some behavioural issues that saw him return late to training following the summer and this has all happened within a cloud of interest from Barcelona who are keen to bring the Brazilian back to Catalonia. Neymar is a pivotal part of PSG’s play when he is fit but we feel that the club still have such an incredible squad that would rather easily claim the title again, even if he was to leave.
They have made an impressive signing in Pablo Sarabia who scored 23 times for Sevilla last season and with him missing just three matches last season, he may well come out as somewhat of a replacement for Neymar who was unavailable for 24 games during the 2018/19 campaign.
PSG have lost a number of players over the transfer window but we feel that they still have an admirable enough squad to win the league again this year and we’re backing them to do just that.
Ligue 1 Winners w/out PSG Prediction – Olympique Lyonnais
Lille were the story of the season last year as they bounced back from their 17th place finish in 2017/18 to eventually finish 2nd with Christophe Galtier’s fantastic squad and attractive style of play bringing a smile back to their fans who have suffered quite a bit in recent years.
As with many teams that have breakout seasons though, many of their stars have already been plucked away from them with Youssouf Koné and Thiago Mendes both leaving for Lille earlier in the summer. Their top scorer Nicolas Pépé is another man expected to leave in the near future and even though the club has brought in replacements, we doubt they’ll be able to recreate their feat of finishing 2nd. They will also have to cope with the added stress of the Champions League this season and we don’t feel they have the necessary depth to be as competitive on both fronts.
We believe that this will open up an opportunity for Lyon to finish runners-up for the first time since 2016. They finished three points behind Lille last season but they should be able to claim 2nd spot this time round. Lyon may have lost Nabil Fekir and Tanguy Ndombélé in the transfer window but their signings have been extremely astute and we feel this will give them the edge over their opponents this season. Marseille were a bit of a mess last year with fan riots and stadium bans so will take a while to restructure and it’s a similar situation at Monaco where Leonardo Jardim has quite the task on his hand following last season’s 17th place finish.
It may only be Sylvinho’s first ever managerial job but with a lot of backing from the board we feel he will flourish this season with such a talented squad.
Keep up to date with all the latest Ligue 1 betting tips, predictions, and news here.
To Finish In Top 3 – LOSC Lille
As much as they will have a much more difficult season this year with their European commitments, it would be stupid to underestimate Christophe Galtier. The 52-year-old broods confidence and managed to get that out of his squad last season with Pépé, Jonathan Bamba and Jonathan Ikoné all having stellar campaigns. Even with the former on the verge of leaving for Arsenal, Lille have already started making plans for life post-Pepe.
Lille’s sporting director Luis Campos has an incredible track record with him being responsible for bringing in the likes of Fabinho and Thomas Lemar for tiny fees before selling them on in lucrative deals. The same looks to be happening with Pépé. The highly-rated PSG duo of Virgiliu Postolachi and Timothy Weah have joined up to fill the gaps alongside the experienced head of Benjamin André who will bring composure back to the Lille midfield after a great year with Rennes.
They didn’t get to 2nd place last season without having the necessary quality and you only have to watch back their 5-1 drubbing of PSG last season to see that they will still be in and around the top places this season.
Ligue 1 Relegation Predictions
Amiens to be Relegated
There are a number of candidates for relegation this season with so many teams really looking rather lacklustre in the campaign just gone but we’re picking out Amiens and Toulouse as our selections for the drop.
Amiens lost their manager in the summer as Christophe Pélissier left for FC Lorient in Ligue 2. Pélissier was the coach that led them to promotion in 2016/17 and we feel that his replacement Luka Elsner does not carry enough pedigree to keep this rather weak squad up. The 36-year-old’s past jobs have seen him manage in Cyprus and the Belgian second division so Amiens’s board has put a lot of faith in the Slovenian to keep them up this season.
Amiens came dangerously close to relegation last year with them just four points off of the play-off spot and even though they have spent money on three players who were on loan previously, they really lack goals. They broke their transfer record to buy Serhou Guirassy from Köln but with the striker only scoring three goals in 13 loan appearances last year, it seems that that money could have been spent better elsewhere. They scored the fourth least number of goals last season with 31 and a failure to really rectify this could see them play in Ligue 2 sooner rather than later. Their top scorer Moussa Konaté has been linked with a move to West Brom which could also hinder their survival chances so it’s not looking good for the Unicorns.
Toulouse to be Relegated
Toulouse are our other pick for relegation as they also finished with just 38 points last season. It wasn’t the return to Toulouse that Alain Casanova probably expected as the Frenchman had enjoyed quite a successful tenure with les Violets between 2008 and 2015 but failed to recreate that type of form in his first year back in the Pink City.
They have lost quite a number of key players in the past few months with Christopher Jullien, Andy Delort and Jean-Clair Tobido all leaving recently and with just €6m reinvested in two permanent signings, it could be testy times for Toulouse if the transfers don’t work out.
They scored just 35 goals last season and with Efthymios Koulouris their only attacking signing, a lot rests on the Greek’s shoulders. The 23-year-old enjoyed a great year at Atromitos, scoring 19 goals in 28 appearances but he is untested at this level and could flop in a Toulouse side not exactly brimming with quality.
They had to win a relegation play-off in 2018 to stay in the league then and after another poor season last year, we could see them finally drop down to Ligue 2 this year.
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