Ligue 1 Superthread 2017/18

Mr.Nice Guy

The first of Europe's big five leagues is about to return, with tonight seeing the traditional Trophees des Champions curtain-raiser as reigning league champions Monaco take on Coupe de France winners PSG. (The game is live on BT Sport 3 at 8 pm)

Last season was high on excitement and drama as Monaco ended PSG's dominance, becoming one of the most attractive sides on the continent in the process. Nice also caused a surprise by putting on a good title challenge and ultimately securing third place. The battle to survive the drop also went to the wire.

Friday sees the return of the league proper as champions Monaco begin at home against Toulouse.

Here is a look at the Ligue 1 title odds from Paddy Power at the time of writing:

PSG 1/4
Monaco 4/1
Marseille 20/1
Lyon 25/1
Nice 30/1
Lille 66/1
Nantes 66/1
Others 100/1 or more

Here's my take on the teams...

PSG

It comes as little surprise that PSG are favourites. They have managed to keep hold of Verratti (for now at least) which is a boost and have been heavily linked with a superstar forward arrival, with Neymar the current favourite. They have also added Dani Alves to their ranks and look to have the greatest strength in depth of all of the league's teams. Cavani, despite his flaws, is going to be amongst the goals and I expect Draxler to push on from a good first season to have an even better one. This is a huge season for Unai Emery. He will need to win back the league and show signs of progress in Europe to avoid the sack.

Monaco

Monaco have lost key players in Bakayoko, Mendy, and for me the best player of last season, Bernardo Silva. Another departure that has gone under the radar compared to the others is Valere Germain, who contributed plenty of goals. Tielemans from Anderlecht and Kongolo from Feyenoord are supposed to fill the shoes of Bakayoko and Mendy, while Silva's wing position may go to Rony Lopes or Allan Saint-Maximin who were on loan last season. I'm a big fan of Saint-Maximin and I thought he was one of the few bright spots for Bastia so I hope he gets a chance to impress, although the media seem to think Lopes will start tonight on the right wing. The big question for Monaco is whether Mbappe hangs around for another year. With him and Falcao they will continue to score goals and the defence still looks pretty solid. I would worry about the squad depth if they lose key players.

Marseille

Marseille have big ambitions to return to the top of French football under owner Frank McCourt but this season may be too soon for that. Gomis will be a loss as he scored plenty for them last season, but Germain was a good acquisition. Luis Gustavo has also come in from Wolfsburg, while in defence Adil Rami has been bought to tighten up that terrible defence. Payet and Thauvin did well last season and will be important. I think they are lacking another big striker though. Giroud has been linked, as well as Celtic's Moussa Dembele. Unless they sign one of them I can't see them being in the mix for the title. Still time before the window shuts of course.

Lyon

As for Lyon, a lot has been made of Monaco losing players but I think for Lyon the situation is far more worrying. Valbuena is gone. Gonalons is gone. Lacazette is gone - which will be a disappointment for Memphis Depay who linked up brilliantly with him late last season - and Tolisso is arguably the biggest loss as he has gone to Bayern. Clement Grenier has been bought and they have signed Mariano from Madrid. Bertrand Traore has also arrived from Chelsea. These players will have to step up in a big way to have Lyon up at the top.

Nice

I thought Nice were really endearing last season and I'm pleased Balotelli has decided to stay put. A lot will depend on their ability to keep hold of Jean-Michael Seri who is attracting interest from Premier League clubs. Alassane Plea's return will be a boost; he was their top scorer before suffering a season ending injury in the middle of last season. Cyprien is another returning from injury who can do very well. Favre is an excellent coach but will have a big job repeating last season's finish.

Lille

Lille will be fascinating to watch for the fact that Marcelo Bielsa will be in charge. I thought Lille were very dull last season but I don't expect them to be dull this time around. Corchia has moved on to Sevilla and he was one of their better players, but Kevin Malcuit has arrived and should fit in nicely. Nicolas Pepe is another interesting signing from Angers.

Nantes

Nantes have seen Sergio Conceicao go to Porto after an excellent season with them, but Claudio Ranieri is the high profile replacement. I'm keen to see how he gets on as obviously he knows French football having worked there before. I thought Nakoulma did well for Nantes up front last season. Amine Harit has left to go to Schalke which is a shame as he has good potential.

Elsewhere...

As far as others go, I'm keen to see how Bordeaux get on. Jocelyn Gourvennec was one of the better coaches last season and Bordeaux were entertaining in attack. Adam Ounas has left for Napoli which is a pity but they still have flair through Malcom and Francois Kamano. Former Rennes keeper Benoit Costil will be their new number one.

Saint-Etienne have signed forward Lois Diony from Dijon who is a player that impressed last season, so I think he might be one to watch.

The promoted teams are Strasbourg, Amiens and Troyes. It will be tough for them to stay up but I'd give them a decent chance. Amiens have former Chelsea player Gael Kakuta on board following a free transfer.

Anyways, what team are you backing to finish this season on top? Can Monaco retain the title? Will PSG power back to dominance? Might another team prove a dark horse for the championship? Personally I can't see past PSG, but I'd like to see Monaco come good again. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all pans out.

Mr.Nice Guy

Team news for tonight's game. Mbappe and Dani Alves start for Monaco and PSG respectively:

Monaco XI: Subasic; Sidibe, Jemerson, Glik, Kongolo; Toure, Fabinho, Tielemans, Lemar; Mbappe, Falcao.

PSG XI: Areola; Meunier, Marquinhos, Silva, Kurzawa; Verratti, Motta, Rabiot; Alves, Cavani, Pastore.

Mr.Nice Guy

Sidibe scores! What a fine finish.

Update: 1-0 to Monaco at half-time. Monaco have looked very much like the team of last season. Tielemans looked good. Kongolo had more of a mixed half with some poor decision making. Mbappe has looked very good. Subasic was very disappointing though. He spilled the ball on two occasions which nearly led to goals, and his distribution has been poor. PSG did okay and have had the better of possession. Motta and Verratti have done well. Alves has been alright but hasn't caused too many problems. Overall, very interesting half.

Mr.Nice Guy

Dani Alves equalises with a belter of a free-kick!

Mr.Nice Guy

Rabiot header makes it 2-1 to PSG. Great cross from Alves.

Update: Full-Time and PSG win the contest 2-1. Alves was much more of a handful in the second half. The free-kick he scored was fantastic and his assist for Rabiot was also excellent. PSG bossed the midfield overall. Their midfielders did very well. Areola also made some good stops. Monaco were disappointing in the second half but finished strongly. Saint-Maximin came on as a sub late on and I thought he did well. I would like to see him get a shot to be the heir to Bernardo Silva. Sidibe looked good going forward. Lemar was pretty disappointing. Overall, I think Monaco are still a work in progress as they try to adapt to with their new players. The game with Toulouse on Friday will be interesting to watch. PSG looking very strong as you'd expect and Alves looks a very good addition.

Mr.Nice Guy

Here's the first round of fixtures coming up next week:

Friday
Monaco vs Toulouse

Saturday
Paris Saint-Germain vs Amiens
Lyon vs Strasbourg
Metz vs Guingamp
Montpellier vs Caen
St Etienne vs Nice
Troyes vs Rennes

Sunday
Lille vs Nantes
Angers vs Bordeaux
Marseille vs Dijon

Bielsa vs Ranieri - nice one!

An Ciarraioch

The most notable aspect was how unfazed Monaco seemed in the first half, even after losing virtually half their first 2016-17 team, and Tielemans, as you say, looked most impressive. But Alves really did boss the show in the second 45, and he seems to have blended in seamlessly already. All in all, an excellent advertisement for the quality of Ligue 1 this season, and even Marseille will have to get out the chequebook again, it would appear, to dislodge either club from the top two.

An Ciarraioch

Nice guarantee themselves group stage football in either European competition by dispatching Ajax on away goals. That said, some potential sticky draws, such as Sevilla, Napoli or Liverpool, could still trip them up in the play-offs. Marseille and Bordeaux look well placed to advance in the Europa, though the latter's trip to Hungary could prove a minefield.

Mr.Nice Guy

So Neymar is officially a PSG player.

https://twitter.com/PSG_inside/status/893196411713589250

Huge coup for the club and for French football.

An Ciarraioch

One presumes he'll be in no condition to play on Saturday, so he'll get some culture shock on his debut away to Guingamp (twinned with Tralee, AFAIK). Bordeaux knocked out by Man United's old nemeses, Videoton, but Marseille sailing through to the playoff (draws tomorrow).

Mr.Nice Guy

Ligue 1 kicks off tonight with champs Monaco at home to Toulouse. The match is on BT Sport 1 with kick-off at 7.45. Teams are in:

Monaco XI: Subasic - Sidibe, Jemerson, Glik, Jorge - Fabinho, Moutinho, Lemar, Ronny Lopes - Falcao, Mbappe.

Toulouse XI: Lafont - Yago, Jullien, Amian, Moubandje - Blin, Sangare, Machach - Jean, Delort, Durmaz.

This should be an interesting start. Delort can cause Monaco problems and Jean will look to prove a point against his former side.

Mbappe got on the scoresheet in this fixture last season and I fancy he will again. I'll say a 2-1 Monaco win.

Mr.Nice Guy

Toulouse get the opening goal of Ligue 1! Machach scores after a well worked corner routine. Game on.

Update: 1-1! Jemerson equalises from a Monaco corner.

Half-Time: It's 1-1 at the break. Monaco finished the half in better shape but they haven't looked at their best. It should be said the state of the pitch is woeful. It's cutting up all over the place and that's amazing considering they are the champions of France playing their opening league game. Toulouse have had some good moments on the break. Durmaz and Machach look a threat. Jullien has defended well. Monaco's keeper Subasic has again looked dodgy.

Mr.Nice Guy

2-1 to Toulouse! Delort with a great low strike. Sidibe played the team into trouble there.

Update: 2-2! Falcao with a header.

Another update: It's 3-2 to Monaco! Glik claiming it.

Mr.Nice Guy

Full-Time and Monaco win it 3-2. Entertaining start to the new season. I think Monaco deserved the result. They do look like a team that is going to need time to adapt to the loss of key players.

PSG in action tomorrow against promoted side Amiens.

Mr.Nice Guy

PSG off and running with a 2-0 win over Ligue 1 newcomers Amiens. Cavani and Pastore with the goals. I didn't see the game but I hear they didn't play that great. I expected a bigger margin of victory.

Five evening games tonight at 7pm. BT Sport are showing Saint-Etienne vs Nice. Here are the teams:

Saint-Etienne XI: Ruffier; Janko, KTC, Perrin, Pierre-Gabriel; Selnaes, Diousse, B.Dabo; Tannane, Bamba, Hamouma.

Nice XI: Cardinale; Souquet, Dante, Le Marchand, M.Sarr; Walter, Koziello; Lees-Melou, Srarfi, Eysseric; Plea.

No Balotelli or Seri tonight for Nice. Good to see Plea back playing after his bad injury last season. This is Oscar Garcia's first league game in charge of Saint-Etienne. I'll predict a 1-1 draw.

HalloweenJack

I saw a bit of that PSG game. They played well at times but still seems like they're getting into the swing of things.

Watching the Lyon Strasbourg game and Lyon have already had a good chance that came from a lovely move by Traore.

Mr.Nice Guy

Bamba has put Saint-Etienne ahead inside 5 minutes.

HalloweenJack

Mariano with a debut goal. Looked good on the first viewing but I reckon the keeper could have done better.

Lyon looking pretty good so far, playing some nice stuff.

HalloweenJack

2-0 Lyon.

Strasbourg started the second half well and had a few half-chances before Lyon got back into it and got a penalty for a foul on Traore. Half an hour to go.

EDIT: 3-0 now, Mariano with his second. Got a lucky deflection off a poor touch but did well to finish it off.

An Ciarraioch

Strange that BT aren't giving score updates from the other games.

An Ciarraioch

In the other matches, it's a good opening weekend for the Breton clubs so far, as Guingamp have come from behind to lead at Metz, while Rennes have equalised away to Troyes. Montpellier lead at home to Caen.

An Ciarraioch

FTs:

Lyon 4-0 Strasbourg
Metz 1-3 Guingamp
Montpellier 1-0 Caen
St. Etienne 1-0 Nice
Troyes 1-1 Rennes

Mr.Nice Guy

Full-Time and Saint-Etienne win 1-0. It was a deserved win and they should have also had a penalty in the first half. Nice were disappointing and rarely troubled Ruffier, although he made a great stop when he was forced to do something. Nice are going to be in big trouble if Seri leaves imo. They missed his ability to open things up.

Looking forward to Ranieri and Bielsa's opening game tomorrow afternoon when Nantes face Lille. Marseille in action in the evening too against Dijon.

An Ciarraioch

Interesting L'Equipe article on the season budgets of each club - there are probably English League One clubs wealthier than some of the bottom teams:

https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Les-classement-des-budgets-de-ligue-1-2017-2018-le-psg-c-est-vingt-deux-fois-amiens/823131

Mr.Nice Guy

Teams for Lille vs Nantes are in.

Lille XI: Maignan - Malcuit, Edgar Ie, Alonso, Ballo-Toure - Amadou, Mendes - El Ghazi, Benzia, Luiz Araujo - De Prlle.

Nantes XI: Dupe - Dubois, Diego Carlos, Pallois, Djidji - Iloki, Rongier, A.Toure, Kacaniklic - Sala, Nakoulma.

Bielsa playing a lot of the new summer signings. Ranieri's line-up is more familiar although new signing Pallois gets a game. Looking forward to this. Hope it's a good game. It's live on BT Sport 3.

Update: 0-0 at half-time. Lille looked good going forward and had the better of possession but Nantes had the best opportunity. Nakoulma really should have scored but he put his header wide. You can tell Bielsa has encouraged his defenders to express themselves. Junior Alonso showed some nice skill at the back.

Mr.Nice Guy

Goal for Lille! Great strike from Junior Alonso after nice play.

Update: 2-0 to Lille after De Preville scores from the spot. Pallois gave away the peno and he's had a debut to forget really. Probably should have been given a second booking for the foul.

Update II: 3-0 to Lille now. Game over. El Ghazi scores from Araujo's cross after a slick break. El Ghazi took off his shirt to pay tribute to his former Ajax teammate Appie Nouri who collapsed last month and is in a serious condition. Nice tribute from the player.

Full-Time: It ends 3-0 to Lille. An impressive start to Bielsa's Lille tenure. They were far more attractive on the eye compared to last season. Nantes in contrast looked devoid of ideas out and lacked a creative spark. If Nakoulma had taken his chance in the first half perhaps things would have been different, but Lille were deserving winners.

Mr.Nice Guy

Marseille have got their season off to a good start with a 3-0 home win over Dijon. Angers managed a 2-2 draw with Bordeaux in the other Sunday game.

Here's the line-up for the second round of fixtures:

Friday
Nice vs Troyes
Rennes vs Lyon

Saturday
Nantes vs Marseille
Amiens vs Angers
Bordeaux vs Metz
Caen vs Saint-Etienne
Toulouse vs Montpellier

Sunday
Strasbourg vs Lille
Dijon vs Monaco
Guingamp vs PSG

All eyes will be on Neymar's expected debut for PSG away to Guingamp in the Sunday evening game.

Nantes vs Marseille could be another one to watch out for with Ranieri needing to bounce back with a positive result against a Marseille side coming off a good win.

Mr.Nice Guy

Nice have done very good transfer business, signing Wesley Sneijder on a free transfer and picking up Allan Saint-Maximin from Monaco for €10m.

https://twitter.com/SquawkaNews/status/894906940467314690

The deal for Saint-Maximin particularly excites me. I am a big admirer of him and I thought he could have been the natural successor to Bernardo Silva for Monaco. I wonder will Jardim regret letting him go in time. I'm excited to see what he can do under Favre.

Nice are playing this Friday. It might be deemed too early for the new signings to feature, but you never know.

Mr.Nice Guy

Lyon have won away at Rennes 2-1 with goals from Depay and Mariano. That's a good win. Nice on the other hand have been beaten 2-1 at home to Troyes which is their second straight defeat. Bad start for Favre so far.

An Ciarraioch

Today's results:

Marseille 1-0 Nantes
Amiens 0-2 Angers
Bordeaux 2-0 Metz
Caen 0-1 St. Etienne
Toulouse 1-0 Montpellier

No shock to see Amiens, Caen or Metz au bas du tableau on zero points from two games, neither Strasbourg nor Dijon would be expected either to get anything from Lille and Monaco respectively, but Nantes are surprise strugglers. St Etienne often flatter to deceive early on before falling away in later months, but Angers appear to be the Eibar/Sassuolo of Ligue 1, gaining maximum advantage out of limited resources.


http://ie.soccerway.com/national/france/ligue-1/20172018/regular-season/r41646/

Mr.Nice Guy

Disappointing start for Ranieri. He said before the season he was willing to give the squad he has a chance and wasn't intent on making too many transfers. I wonder will he change his view on that.

Looking forward to Neymar's debut tomorrow evening.

irishman86

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Disappointing start for Ranieri. He said before the season he was willing to give the squad he has a chance and wasn't intent on making too many transfers. I wonder will he change his view on that.

Looking forward to Neymar's debut tomorrow evening.

Im happy with the start
I'd rather start Cabella myself but win and a clean sheet against a decent Nantes

martyos121

Monaco 3-1 up away to Dijon. Brilliant overhead kick from centre back Jemerson from a corner (technique was average but brilliant because of the position he plays :pac:) and Falcao's second goal was sensational if it wasn't deflected (not very clear on replays but the spin on the ball looked like it did take a little touch on the way in).

Don't think they'll miss Mbappe too much, a great club at selling big players without sliding down the table like so many clubs do.

martyos121

Hat-trick Falcao.

ERG89

martyos121 wrote:

Don't think they'll miss Mbappe too much, a great club at selling big players without sliding down the table like so many clubs do.

Is he not in the match day squad due to the looming transfer or the knock he took last week?

martyos121

ERG89 wrote: »

Is he not in the match day squad due to the looming transfer or the knock he took last week?

He was in the squad but didn't come on (smart decision for all involved, why risk anything over the money involved?).

I was worried for him when he came off last week, he was getting on the ball a lot in that match and looks to have added more to his game. Luckily for him he seems grand after it. Think he's set to be unveiled at PSG in the coming days anyway so he'll be under massive scrutiny soon and everything he does wrong will be criticised, if he's going to be playing through that injury (if it's still there) it won't be ideal for him.

irishman86

martyos121 wrote: »

He was in the squad but didn't come on (smart decision for all involved, why risk anything over the money involved?).

I was worried for him when he came off last week, he was getting on the ball a lot in that match and looks to have added more to his game. Luckily for him he seems grand after it. Think he's set to be unveiled at PSG in the coming days anyway so he'll be under massive scrutiny soon and everything he does wrong will be criticised, if he's going to be playing through that injury (if it's still there) it won't be ideal for him.

Really sorts Monaco out for the next possible 10 years :eek:
Unlike Barcelona and Neymar, Monaco can take younger lads and let them grow along with giving youth players a chance like Mbappe
I see similar transfers to Martial coming up
Coming from Lyon for 8mill moving him on for 50+
They were always going to struggle to compete with PSG, losing Mbappe doesnt change anything for me

martyos121

irishman86 wrote: »

Really sorts Monaco out for the next possible 10 years :eek:
Unlike Barcelona and Neymar, Monaco can take younger lads and let them grow along with giving youth players a chance like Mbappe
I see similar transfers to Martial coming up
Coming from Lyon for 8mill moving him on for 50+
They were always going to struggle to compete with PSG, losing Mbappe doesnt change anything for me

The big money should be spent on their scouts instead of their players!

Mr.Nice Guy

Neymar starts.

Guingamp XI: Johnsson - Ikoko, Kerbrat, Sorbon, Rebocho - Didot, Deaux - Camara, Salibur, Coco - Briand.

PSG XI: Areola - Dani Alves, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Kurzawa - Verratti, Thiago Motta, Rabiot - Di Maria, Cavani, Neymar.

Game kicks off at 8.

An Ciarraioch

Interestingly, Guingamp have won two and drawn one of their last four home League games against PSG, but would take some effort to keep that record going!

https://www.soccerpunter.com/soccer-statistics/France/Ligue-1-2017-2018/head_to_head_statistics/all/904_En_Avant_Guingamp/886_Paris_Saint-Germain_FC

That PSG team is strong

martyos121

M!Ck^ wrote: »

That PSG team is strong

For the first time I can safely say it's a side that can definitely win the Champions League. And Mbappe will be joining it in the coming days, with rumours of Alexis Sanchez also in talks (those are dubious at the minute though).

Not only will it loosen Real, Bayern and Barca's grip on the pinnacle of European football, it'll bring Ligue 1 along very nicely in exposure and quality with teams aspiring to eventually knocking PSG off their perch.

martyos121

martyos121 wrote: »

For the first time I can safely say it's a side that can definitely win the Champions League. And Mbappe will be joining it in the coming days, with rumours of Alexis Sanchez also in talks (those are dubious at the minute though).

Not only will it loosen Real, Bayern and Barca's grip on the pinnacle of European football, it'll bring Ligue 1 along very nicely in exposure and quality with teams aspiring to eventually knocking PSG off their perch.

Monaco already testing them IMO
Ligue 1 is underated

The Welsh lad on bein sports is brutal

*NM switched to BT

Neymar already showing some quality link up play

Amirani

Cagey enough from PSG thus far. A goal looks inevitable, but haven't really seemed clinical. Guingamp have done okay.

Mr.Nice Guy

I thought Neymar did well and looked lively. Emery is showing a bit too much respect to Guingamp with this selection it seems to me. I suppose it's understandable since he was beaten here in this fixture last season but I'd like to see Motta taken off and Pastore or Matuidi come on.

Amirani

That own goal. Oh dear...

Mr.Nice Guy

What an own goal. Dear oh dear. Neymar would have been proud of that finish.

Amirani

No goal, but very decent assist from Neymar. That'll be the 3 points anyway.

Mr.Nice Guy

That was a perfect pass. Neymar looks like he's enjoying this free role he's playing.

Mr.Nice Guy

There's the goal!