Ligue 1 Tips: Expect more misery for managerless Angers

James Eastham
10 March 2023
3:00 min read

Toulouse midfielder Branco van den Boomen

Toulouse's Branco van den Boomen (seven assists) may add to his tally this weekend

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James Eastham looks at the odds and reveals the top selections on this weekend's Ligue 1 fixtures...

21.5% ROI from 76 picks this season
Bottom club Angers to lose again
Resurgent Montpellier worth supporting

Toulouse to claim points

Angers vs Toulouse (20th vs 12th)
Sun, 14:00 GMT
Live on Betfair Live Video

Toulouse are a good bet to win at an odds-against price as they're facing the weakest side in the division this weekend.

Angers are bottom of the Ligue 1 table having lost 20 of their 26 games this season. They have only 10 points, and are 12 points from safety with just 12 rounds of games to go. We successfully opposed Angers last weekend and are happy to do so again.

Angers sacked manager Abdel Bouhazama this week. Managing at this level for the first time, Bouhazama had failed to improve the side, and failed to win any of his 11 matches in charge (W0-D2-L9). Promoted from the club's coaching ranks, Alexandre Dujeux - also a novice at this level - will take temporary charge this weekend.

This is the perfect game for Toulouse to relaunch themselves after their 0-1 home defeat to Clermont last weekend. Perhaps the players' minds were elsewhere on that occasion, the game coming just a couple of days after their 6-1 French Cup quarter-final win over Ligue 2 Rodez.

By the time this game takes place, however, Toulouse manager Philippe Montanier should have refocused the players' thoughts, and stressed the importance of maintaining the right levels of preparation and motivation for league games even though they're in a comfortable mid-table position.

Toulouse are an excellent W5-D1-L0 this season against sides that, like Angers, are currently in the relegation zone. The odds on the visitors collecting all three points are worth taking.

Back Toulouse to win at Angers

2.04

Superior visitors the smart pick

Ajaccio vs Montpellier (18th vs 13th)
Sun, 14:00 GMT
Live on Betfair Live Video

Montpellier are one of the division's form teams and should avoid defeat at the very least this weekend.

Since the re-appointment of Michel Der Zakarian as manager last month (he was previously in charge at Montpellier from 2017 to 2021) Montpellier have picked up 10 points from four matches (W3-D1-L0). Last weekend they ran out 5-0 home winners against Angers.

The team is better organised and working harder under Der Zakarian than they were under his predecessor Romain Pitau. The players are enjoying their football again, and competition for places should also help to produce another good performance this weekend.

Hosts Ajaccio are five places and nine points below Montpellier in the standings. They're weaker all over the field: if you were to combine the two squads and pick a Starting XI, there'd be only one Ajaccio player (midfielder Vincent Marchetti) in it.

This is also the type of game Ajaccio have struggled to win all season. Their home record is W3-D1-L8, and their three home wins came against three teams (Angers, Strasbourg, Troyes) currently in the bottom six.

Against sides that, like Montpellier, are in a higher position in the table, Ajaccio have no track record of success.

The 2.588/5 on Montpellier winning the match is worth considering. Alternatively, look at Montpellier on the Draw No Bet market, or 0 on the Asian Handicap market (these two markets work in exactly the same way).

With selections on either of these markets, you'll get your stakes back if the game ends in a draw, and make a profit if Montpellier win.

Back Montpellier 0 Asian Handicap

1.8