Lorient vs Bastia Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Lorient had a pretty uneventful Ligue 1 campaign last season as they struggled along to try and improve on their 16th place finish in the 2014/15 campaign. They didn’t manage to make much headway on this, ending the campaign in 15th position with 46 points from their 38 games, three more than the previous season.

They lost key left back Raphael Guerreiro to Borussia Dortmund in the summer as well, and their defensive instability showed in the opening weekend of this season as they lost 3-2 at Caen.

Lorient actually went two goals up in the first 20 minutes of this game, but by half-time Caen had managed to pull the scores level and three minutes before full time Ivan Santini bagged his second and Caen’s third to earn them the three points.

This made it seven games without a win for Lorient, with their last victory coming on the final day of last season. That 1-0 win against the now relegated Gazelec Ajaccio is their only victory in their last 13 games, so they didn’t finish the season strongly.

Bastia began the new Ligue 1 season in one of the most difficult ways imaginable as they hosted the dominant French champions PSG on Friday. However, the hosts actually held their own against them, and the tie was only settled thanks to a 73rd minute Layvin Kurzawa goal.

A 1-0 defeat at home to PSG is certainly nothing to be ashamed of for the visitors, and they are coming off the back of a decent season as well. They came in,in 10th position at the end of last season, improving on the 12th spot they occupied at the end of the 2014/15 campaign.

Bastia weren’t too bad away from home last term either, and they have only lost two of their last seven away days in Ligue 1. Lorient, on the other hand, have only won three of their last 12 home matches in Ligue 1, drawing five and losing four to make up the rest of the results.

This form, plus their horrific defensive collapse last weekend, means that Bastia have a very good chance of getting something from this game. Bastia have also only lost one of their last six meetings with Lorient, so odds of 19/20 for a Bastia Win or Draw Double Chance look excellent value. I’m going for a stalemate with a 1-1 correct score prediction at 11/2 as well.