French Football / James Eastham / 22 October 2009 / Leave a comment

Laurent Blanc's boys bounced back from consecutive league defeats by beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek, which means Le Mans are in for a tough 90 minutes when they face the French champions on Saturday night. Best bet: Bordeaux v Le Mans over 2.5 goals @ [1.98].

Recommended bets: Back Bordeaux v Le Mans over 2.5 goals @ 1.98; St Etienne v Valenciennes over 2.5 goals @ 2.36; Grenoble +0.25 Asian handicap v Nancy @ 2.04; Marseille to beat PSG @ 1.87 (if PSG's Mevlut Erding doesn't play)

Bordeaux v Le Mans (Saturday, 6pm UK time)

The press made much of the fact that Bordeaux's 1-0 defeat at Auxerre last weekend meant they'd lost consecutive league games for the first time in 32 months, but from what I saw there's wasn't a lot wrong with les Girondins' performance.

If Fernando Cavenaghi had converted a first-half penalty the champions would have led at half-time, which would have been been game over. And they bounced by beating Bayern Munich 2-1 in midweek.

Le Mans are weak opponents. They lie 17th, have collected just eight points from 27 and lost four from four on the road. Paradoxically, the visitors may get more chances to score this weekend than against lesser sides because Bordeaux boss Laurent Blanc would rather see his team win 3-1 or 4-2 than 1-0, but there's no chance of the hosts relinquishing their magnificent two-year unbeaten home record to such feeble foes.

Bordeaux are a short price to win - odds-on with a -1.25-goal start - so I'm backing the match to feature more than two goals.

St Etienne v Valenciennes (Saturday, 6pm)

A run of three wins from four matches has struck a mighty blow against critics who said that Philippe Montanier's 4-3-3 tactics were suicidal. When he took over last summer the Valenciennes boss was adamant his adventurous brand of football would prove successful as well as entertaining, and 3-2 wins (three times) and a 5-2 victory over Sochaux have proved him right.

St Etienne are similarly high-scoring, but equally liable to leak goals. The arrival of Argentina striker Gonzalo Bergessio has improved their scoring rate, but the defensive frailties apparent last season are still there. The price on over 2.5 goals looks awfully big on a game between sides who have kept just three clean sheets in 18 games between them, and two of those came against the division's lowest scorers, Grenoble.

Grenoble v Nancy (Saturday, 6pm)

Grenoble's nine defeats in nine games is the worst start to a season by any club in Ligue 1 history. But they haven't played that badly - and this weekend's visit of struggling Nancy gives them the ideal chance to finally get a point on the board.

Pablo Correa's visitors have won just one of their last seven games, suffering three defeats and a draw in their last four away games among that run of results. The club's transfer policy of signing Ligue 2 players hasn't been wholly successful, as defenders such as Joel Sami and Jordan Loties look out of their depth.

I can sense that first win coming, since Grenoble's players have done well in spells in their last three games. But you don't even need the wooden-spoon holders to take all three points for this bet to win - as long as they draw, you'll make a profit.

Marseille to beat PSG (Sunday. 8pm)

How PSG have missed Mevlut Erding. Their 8m euro summer signing began the season in scintillating fashion, helping PSG win three and draw one of their opening four games, but since he picked up a shoulder injury PSG have managed just three points from a possible 18.

Never was his absence more strongly felt than at home to Nancy on October 3, when PSG had 23 scoring opportunities but hit the target only four times and drew 1-1. Guillaume Hoarau, PSG's 17-goal top scorer last season, is also out, but his influence has been diminished ever since Jerome Rothen, his primary source of assists last season, joined Rangers in August.

At the time of writing, Erding's 50-50 to face Marseille on Sunday night. If he's fit, I'd leave the game alone. If he's sidelined, get on Marseille.