Ligue 1 Betting: Back angry St Etienne and oppose little Lorient to make a profit

French Football / James Eastham / 02 December 2009 / Leave a comment

Diminutive: Lorient striker Marama Vahirua has scored six goals this season but tends to struggle against more physical defenders

Opposing an overrated Lyon side paid off last Saturday, so include a similar wager in your portfolio of bets on the French League this weekend, writes James Eastham. Best bet: Rennes to beat Lorient @ [1.94].

Recommended bets: St Etienne to beat Sochaux @ 2.12; Rennes to beat Lorient @ 1.94; Lille +0 Asian handicap to beat Lyon @ 2.08.

ST ETIENNE (17th) v SOCHAUX (14th) (Saturday, 6pm UK time)

At first glance, you might conclude that Sochaux played better than St Etienne last weekend, but the facts behind the scorelines reveal a different story.

St Etienne drew 1-1 away to Le Mans, but were denied a clear penalty in the eighth minute and had a goal wrongly disallowed in first-half injury-time. By that stage, St Etienne were 1-0 up. Had they gone in 2-0 ahead at the break, it might well have been game over.

Sochaux beat Nice 1-0 but replays showed that Yassin Mikari's 27th-minute winner didn't cross the line. Nice spent the remainder of the game outplaying Sochaux, who relied on a monumental performance from goalkeeper Teddy Richert to collect three points they barely deserved.

There's no doubt which team will feel aggrieved and which may feel they've used up all their luck. Back the vengeful hosts at an odds-against price.

RENNES (11th) v LORIENT (4th) (Saturday, 6pm)

"The aim is to do as well as we've done in the last five years - that is, to finish between fourth and seventh in the league," said Rennes coach Frederic Antonetti at the start of the season.

After a spluttering start, there are signs that Rennes will fulfill their coach's aims. The eleventh place they occupy is misleading, as they're only eight points off the top, and the team ought to improve as new players settle in during the months ahead.

The most influential new players are not expensive signings, such as Ismael Bangoura (11m euro) and Alexander Tettey (4m euro), but youth-team graduates such as Yann Mvila and Sylvain Marveaux. Aged 19 and 23 respectively, the pair have made the Rennes midfield more dynamic and have an outside chance of breaking into France's World Cup squad.

Lorient lie five points ahead of Rennes, but their 2-2 home draw against bottom club Grenoble last weekend underlined just how easily they can be bullied off the ball. The average height of Lorient's outfield players is just 176cm, so they'll struggle against Rennes' bruising style.

LILLE (13th) v LYON (2nd) (Sunday, 8pm)

We made money opposing Lyon last weekend and I'm more than happy to go down the same route again.

Lyon extended their winless streak to five matches by stumbling to a 1-1 home draw against a Rennes side that included 17-year-old rookie Abdoulaye Diallo in goal. In contrast, Lille recorded their biggest victory of the season by thrashing local rivals Valenciennes 4-0 who, until that point, had the division's best away record.

Lille are unbeaten at home since the opening day of the season (three wins, three draws) and have the best home record of any side against Lyon, having won five of the last six meetings at Stade Metropole.

The only question mark against Lille is fatigue. A strong Lille side lost 3-1 at Valencia in the Europa League on Wednesday night, so key players such as Gervinho and Eden Hazard may tire towards the end.

But I still feel the price of [3.1] on Lille winning is too big, so I'm backing them at [2.08] with a 0-goal start on the Asian handicap.