Dean Etheridge
Ligue 1 in France enters Matchday 3 this weekend, and here is our preview and betting picks for the top league of French soccer.
Before we get onto our picks for the weekend, let’s have a look at what has gone on already in France.
Defending Champions Lille already falling behind
The French league season has been going for two weeks now. Already last season’s champions, Lille are in deep trouble. After two matches they sit third-bottom on just 1 point. That’s already 5 points behind PSG, favorites to win the title – and just about everything else!
I’m not for a minute suggesting Lille will go down when I say they are in trouble. But they already look like they are going to struggle to defend their hard-won league title from last season.
In their opening match of the season, the defending champions drew 3-3 away to Metz. Things started well with Jocelyn Gourvennec’s side going 1-0 up in the 1st half. They then shipped three goals to go 3-1 down after just 52 minutes.
Taking advantage of a red card for the hosts, Lille fought back to draw the match 3-3.
If Jocelyn Gourvennec and Lille were shocked by the opening day’s result, they must have felt like they’d been struck by lightning after their second match!
Not to be today.#LOSCOGCN | @Ligue1_ENG pic.twitter.com/KazQYg4lPd
— LOSC Lille EN (@LOSC_EN) August 14, 2021
At home to Nice – who finished 9th last season, Lille got hammered four goals to zero. They were 2-0 down after just 5 minutes and never recovered.
Nice scored their third on the stroke of half-time and added a fourth to complete the massacre after 64 minutes.
PSG look set to dominate France this season
| Ligue 1 Winner Betting 2021/22 |  |  |
| PSG | -1200 | -1300 |
| Lyon | +1600 | +1800 |
| Monaco | +2000 | +2000 |
| Lille | +2000 | +2000 |
| Marseille | +2500 | +2000 |
Finding value bets on PSG is hard going. Already the top sportsbooks have them at just -1200 to win the French league title.
New signings Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, and Gianluigi Donnarumma haven’t played in Ligue 1 for PSG yet. And there has been no sign of Neymar either this season.
Even without these star names, Mauricio Pochettino’s side has still won two from two.
It’s going to be difficult to find value in bets on PSG this season. In their upcoming league match away at Brest, they are just -500 to win. That’s better than the odds they are to win Ligue 1, but not great value.
We will be forced to look for other options for our soccer betting picks.
This could mean handicap bets, where the sportsbooks give the opposition one goal, or two goals, etc, head-start. This is just a bet on how many goals you believe PSG will win by.
Another popular betting pick will be if PSG’s opposition scores or not. These bets will be listed as PSG to win to nil – yes or no? Or both teams to score, yes or no? There could be some value in these markets.
Hint: In both PSG’s matches this season, they have conceded goals!
Brest v PSG Betting Picks
For this weekend’s pick, I’m looking at Brest’s match against the champions-elect.
This is a Friday kick-off, and a win for PSG will see them go top ahead of the rest of the Matchday 3’s fixtures.
| Brest v PSG Match Betting Odds | | |
| Brest | +1100 | +1000 |
| Draw | +650 | +600 |
| PSG | -500 | -555.6 |
Be sure to check out our soccer betting page for more information how to find the best odds, picks, and betting offers!
- Ligue1 – Brest v PSG
- Venue – Stade Francis-Le Blé
- Date – 20th August 2021
- Time – 3pm ET
At odds of -500, I’m not going near a PSG win for my pick. There is just no value there. Yes, I think PSG will win, but I’m not having it as a pick.
Brest has 2 points from their two fixtures this season. PSG has won both of theirs and has 6 points.
In both of these matches, Brest has found the back of the net. And in both games, they have also conceded. The same applies to Paris.
Brest Form
Having a look at the form of Brest, and on Matchday 1 they achieved a credible 1-1 draw away to Lyon, one of the teams expected to ‘compete’ with PSG. They had plenty of efforts on goal in that match (13 – Lyon had 17), but they did concede a lot of possession (Brest had just 31%).
That’s to be expected away to a side like Lyon. As I alluded to, Lyon are one of the best teams in France and are currently favorites in betting to win Ligue 1 without PSG.
Brest then followed that up with a 1-1 draw at home with Rennes on Matchday 2. This was a more disappointing result. They again had less possession (40%), but still managed ten attempts on goal.
PSG Form
For PSG in last weekend’s 4-2 win over Strasbourg, they had 65% possession. Pochettino’s team had eleven attempts on goal, compared to Strasbourg’s eight. So it wasn’t a completely one-sided affair.
The previous week, PSG won 2-1 away to Troyes. The home side had fifteen efforts on goal, while PSG had twelve. In possession, PSG had the better of it with 57%.
All this tells me that PSG isn’t at its dominant best yet. They had no Messi or Neymar in those matches, so that might have been a factor.
Even so, PSG seems to be giving up chances in their matches.
Therefore I can see both teams scoring in this match. So Both Teams To Score at -133.3 is my pick for this match.
