Lorient V Paris FC
Monday 29th July 2019 – 19:45 Kick-Off
French Ligue 2
Pick: Lorient to WIN
Odds: 23/20
Bookmaker: BetVictor
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 107/100 | 39/20 | 31/10 |
* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 26th July 2019 at 15:23)
Preview: We have some ‘tasty’ action here, as the opening set of fixtures in the new Dominos Ligue 2 season in France concludes with Lorient taking on Paris FC. The Stade du Moustoir, home of FC Lorient, will be the venue for a meeting which produced a 2-1 success for the hosts in the previous season.
French Ligue 2 Betting with 22Bet
Lorient Preview – Les Merlus to make it three wins out of three in this fixture?
There should be added motivation in the dressing room of Lorient after coming up agonisingly short in last season’s Ligue 2, when an inferior goal difference was all that separated the club from the promotion play-offs. The fact they finished level on points with the team directly above them but a full nine clear of the side immediately below, highlights how unfortunate they were.
A new season brings with it another opportunity to improve, something that might prove slightly more difficult for Lorient, who have spent much of the summer fending off interest in one of their bright, emerging young talents. 21-year-old forward Alexis Claude-Maurice has been linked with a number of potential suitors, including Arsenal, but, at the time of writing at least, he remains on the club’s book and could feature here.
Irrespective of who stays and goes, Les Merlus will need to improve upon what was an above average home record last season. While just three teams beat them on their own patch (W8 D8 L3, GF25 GA19), six teams did manage to register more points from their home fixtures. Lorient’s home form also completely fell away towards the end of the campaign and was, ultimately, the main cause for their shortcomings.
A 3-1 win against Beziers was the only victory in their final six Ligue 2 contests at the Stade du Moustoir (W1 D3 L2), a run that seen them keep just a single clean sheet – that being a 0-0 draw with Sochaux in the final home encounter of the season. Although, they did at least see the season out unbeaten in five, home and away (W2 D3).
Paris FC Preview – Blunt travellers make for unreliable proposition?
The envy of their opponents no doubt were Paris FC, the club which finished two places and as many points better off come the end of the season. The fact they are still here, however, should tell its own story about how their efforts in the promotion play-offs panned out. Despite boasting home advantage, Paris could only draw 1-1 with Lens before losing on penalties to exit the play-offs at the earliest departure point.
Now they, too, are back to do it all over again. Their success last time around was largely due to their superb form in the capital, where they were beaten on just one occasion all season long. Unsurprisingly, this could not be replicated on their travels. Paris FC suffered six losses in total away from home (W7 D6 L6, GF14 GA16), with one of those occurring in this very same fixture, losing 2-1 to Lorient in November.
It doesn’t require much introspection for them to recognise where it went wrong in terms of their away performances. Just 14 goals scored on the road was a figure bettered by 15 sides in the division, as Paris comfortably averaged below one goal-per-game (0.74) whilst failing to score in over a third of all away fixtures (37%). Both are fairly alarming statistics for a team that somehow finished in fourth overall.
To end with a positive spin on things, though, Paris did finish the regular season in fine form. Consecutive victories in their final three fixtures, against Grenoble (1-0), Red Star (0-1) and Ajaccio (1-0), made it no defeat in the final five gameweeks as the team kept their nerve to clutch up and fend off the challenge from Lorient for a top-five finish. Another 1-0 victory is 8/1 with Betfair.
FC Lorient V Paris FC Key Facts:
- Lorient were beaten on just three occasions at home in Ligue 2 last season (W8 D8 L3).
- Paris FC scored just 14 times away from home last season, where they lost six of their seven Ligue 2 matches (W7 D6 L6 away from home).
- These teams have met on four previous occasions in Ligue 2, with Lorient winning both home encounters and yet to taste defeat (W2 D2).
Betting summary
Lorient have had the whole summer to contend with the disappointment of narrowly missing out on the promotion play-offs and should be raring to go here. The team ended last season in reasonably good form, going their final five matches without losing (W2 D3), and did go unbeaten versus Paris which included a 2-1 success at home.
Paris FC were a couple positions and two points superior than Lorient last season, which is hardly a chasm of difference but in the context of how the season concluded, it was huge. Although it did count for little in the end, as the team subsequently failed in the promotion play-offs. The Parisians were a much more dependable outfit at home, with six of their seven defeats occurring in away matches. They also netted just 14 goals in 19 away games.
There will be a number of personnel changes in both sides, which does muddy the waters somewhat. However, Lorient have won both previous home meetings. While it is impossible to overlook the discrepancy between Paris FC’s form at home compared to that away. Therefore Lorient to make it a hat-trick of home victories versus Paris FC is the selection.
