French Ligue 1 Predictions, Picks and Odds for Saturday September 15-17

Betting Preview for French Ligue 1 September 15-17

WagerTalk French Ligue 1 handicapper Kevin Dolan presents his French Ligue 1 September 15-17 predictions and picks around key matches including PSG vs Nice and Lorient vs Monaco. Which teams is he looking to pick up points and which will have goal scoring? Read his betting preview now!

PSG vs Nice | September 15 | 3:00pm ET

PSG -210 | Nice +540 | Draw +340

French giants PSG will look to go back to the summit of the mountain this weekend, however briefly that may be, as they take on unbeaten Nice on Friday night over at the Parc des Princes.

After their title-winning exploits of last season, PSG started off this year incredibly slowly by comparison, drawing their first two matches of the season against Lorient and Toulouse respectively.

Since then however, PSG have stepped it up a notch, scoring seven goals across their last two matches, one of which included a 4-1 road destruction of Lyon in their last game.

Nice meanwhile, while running unbeaten so far, have looked fairly pedestrian this season overall, with three draws from their first four games leading them to a midway position in the table.

The one thing Nice did show in those draws however is their ability to score, with their 21 attempts on goal effort against Lyon three weeks ago being their only scoring blank of the season so far.

Because of that, we’re expecting both teams to find the back of the net in this one. PSG have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last three matchups, and have tended to ease off opponents after taking an early lead as well.

Take both teams to score in this one on Friday between Nice and PSG.

Prediction: Both Teams to Score – Yes (-140)

Rennes vs Lille | September 16 | 11:00am ET

Rennes +110 | Lille +235 | Draw +265

Two teams who perhaps haven’t started the season quite as well as many observers felt they should have, clash this weekend as 7th placed Rennes host 6th placed Lille over at Roazhon Park on Saturday.

After a 5-1 blitz of struggling Metz in their opening game, many people assumed Rennes could go one better this season than their 4th place finish last year, and challenge for a potential Champions League spot in the table.

However, ‘Les Rouges et Noirs’ have failed to look anywhere near as dangerous over their subsequent three games as they did in that first one, with Manchester City transferee Jeremy Doku perhaps being the catalyst in that drop-off in form for Rennes.

Doku grabbed seven goals and four assists for Rennes last season, and added a further goal against Metz at the start of this season also, before transferring over to Manchester City at the end of August, and leaving a notable absence down Rennes’ right wing as a result as they look to reignite their potent attack ahead of this weekend.

Lille meanwhile sit 4th in offensive xG this year, a stat they are well used to considering they finished last season with French Ligue 1’s #1 ranked offensive xG from January 1st onwards.

However, that simply hasn’t translated into goals for them so far this season, with Lille scoring more than one goal on just one occasion this season, a feat that was achieved incredibly late against Nantes last month with a 93rd-minute strike that ricocheted in off the post.

Both teams are struggling to find form right now, but by the same token, both have also shown an ability not to lose games either, with just one loss between them all season. This is a game that could well end up in a stalemate on Saturday, and one we’re quite happy to back at the current odds.

Prediction: Draw (+265)

Lorient vs Monaco | September 17 | 7:00am ET

Lorient +305 | Monaco -120 | Draw +285

Table toppers Monaco travel over to southern Brittany on Sunday looking to stay one step ahead of title rivals PSG at the summit of the table heading into Matchday 5.

However, one loss Lorient will likely not be an easy task here as ‘Les Murles’ have shown themselves to be equally sublime and haphazard in equal measure this season, summarily dispatching an excellent Lille team 4-1 three weeks ago, before following that up with a dismal 3-0 defeat at the hands of newly-promoted Le Havre in their very next game.

Lorient also showed their mettle with an opening day 0-0 draw on the road against PSG, so are more than capable of achieving the same result against Monaco this weekend as well.

That said, only relegation-battling Nantes have a worse overall offensive xG rating at home this season than Lorient currently do, so the home side will need to hope they either continue to generate goals from very little this season, or look to shutdown Monaco at the other end.

That will be easier said than done however as Monaco has been absolutely ruthless in front of goal this season, netting a truly staggering 3.25 GPG average on the season so far, along with owning the league’s highest offensive xG rating as well.

With their loss to Leverkusen in the Europa League competition, expect Monaco to have full focus ahead of this one as they look to maintain their current league position with a win against Lorient this Sunday.

Prediction: Monaco ML (-115)