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Ligue 1: Imagine Liverpool flirting with relegation - in France, these things can happen

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Nik Wardle brings us up to speed on the intriguing top division of the French league. Last year's Champions League qualifiers Toulouse are in danger of dropping out of Ligue 1. Incroyable!

With Lyon trading at just [1.12] to win their seventh title in a row, there appears little point in betting on the winner of Ligue 1. Who will be joining them in the Champions League next season and who will be dropping into Ligue 2 is much more interesting, however.

Those who don't follow French football may have expected Monaco, Marseille and PSG to be battling it out with Lyon for a place in Europe's premiere competition. The former are stuck in mid-table, Marseille were in the bottom three in the early part of the season and the latter will be discussed in terms of relegation odds.

This is what makes French football fascinating - could you imagine Chelsea stuck in mid-table and Arsenal only being out of the relegation places on goal difference? It's just a shame for the neutral that Lyon are so dominant. And with star striker Benzema signing a new contract and record £13.8 million signing Keita finally finding some form, you'd expect their dominance to last for some years yet.

Laurent Blanc's Bordeaux are currently in second place, six points behind Lyon and six ahead of surprise package Nancy. Much of Bordeaux's recent good form has been down to the scoring exploits of Fernando Cavenaghi. He missed most of the early part of the season and has scored ten goals in just sixteen games. That form has earned him his first call up to the Argentina squad. Bordeaux are at just [1.18] to finish in the top three. Nancy are [3.0] to maintain a top three place. Before the winter break they were Lyon's closest challengers but just three wins in ten games has seen Bordeaux overtake them and the pack close in.

The form side of the league are Marseille and their fortunes have been turned around by new coach Eric Gerets. The best price now available for them to join the big boys next season is just [1.31]. They're unbeaten in nine games and former Liverpool forward Djibril Cisse has been finding the net with some regularity in recent weeks - he still does miss a few, though. Fifth place Nice are [3.65], but have a difficult run-in and sixth place Le Mans are [5.0] - a remarkable performance for a club only founded in 1985 and who have a capacity of just 16,600.

There hasn't been too much betting on the relegation issue in Ligue 1 thus far (come on Betfairians, get European), so the odds are the same for many of the sides. Metz are the French version of Derby and are twelve points adrift at the bottom. Toulouse are in 19th place but incredibly are just nine points behind Lille in 7th. This is the same Toulouse side who qualified for Champions League football last season. They are in freefall and haven't won since Matchday 18 in mid-December.

Sochaux sit in the third relegation place but are gaining momentum and are unbeaten in five games. The big story in the bottom half is that giants PSG are in real danger of dropping into Ligue 2. This is the club who paid £20 million for Nicolas Anelka a few years ago. They haven't won for six games and with Lyon away at the weekend, it's likely to be no wins in seven. Much rests on the shoulders of experienced Portuguese striker Pauleta. They are in the League Cup final, though, and play fellow relegation strugglers Lens, managed by Jean-Pierre Papin. Lens haven't won in six games in the league either. How did they both make the final?

The other side in deep trouble is Strasbourg. They're just three points away from the drop zone and will need to pick up points in their two forthcoming home games against Lille and Monaco.
There's sure to be many twists and turns in the race for the final Champions League place (assuming Lyon and Bordeaux don't dramatically falter) and the battle to avoid joining Metz in Ligue 2 next season. I can't think of another major European league where a side who qualify for the Champions League one season (Toulouse) would be in such grave danger of relegation the next. This is what makes French football très intéressant.