Strasbourg V FC Metz Betting Tips: Metz or Draw – 11 August 2019

Metz strong away form to nullify hosts

International Football Tips

Strasbourg V Metz

Sunday 11th August 2019 – 16:00 Kick-Off
French Ligue 1
Pick: Metz or Draw (Double Chance)
Odds: 21/25
Bookmaker: MarathonBet

1 X 2
21/20 43/20 3/1

* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 9th August 2019 at 12:10)

Preview: A matter of days after featuring in the Europa League, Strasbourg begin another season in France’s Ligue 1 and will boast the advantage of playing at home when they welcome newly-promoted FC Metz to the Stade de la Meineu.

French Ligue 1 Betting with 22Bet

 

Strasbourg Preview – Le Racing to recover in time from Thursday’s European outing?

Le Racing will begin a third consecutive season in the French top-flight as a champion. A French Cup champion, that is, after overcoming relegated Guingamp on penalties in last season’s showpiece. That, coupled with a mid-table finish, meant it was a more than satisfactory campaign for the club – although it could so easily have been better were it not for a collapse in their league form towards the end.

At the end of January Strasbourg were absolutely flying, having won four on the spin and in contention for a European finish. Their record for the season at that stage read W9 D8 L5, but from February onwards the team would fade badly to record just two more victories (W2 D8 L6). Meanwhile, a 4-0 success against Reims was the only occasion the team were victorious at home in their final eight games there (W1 D4 L3).

The end of last season couldn’t have come any sooner in some respects. Pre-season form would suggest coach Thierry Laurey has reinvigorated his charges, however, with his team winning all four of their friendlies versus FC Zurich (2-1), Standard Liege (1-2), Toulouse (3-1) and UNFP (2-3). So not only should their be no shortage in confidence ahead of the new season, but their match sharpness should also be approaching peak level due to some early skirmishes in Europe.

On Thursday night, Strasbourg were in Bulgaria for their third fixture in the qualifying rounds for the Europa League, defeating Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1-0. The previous round saw them overcome Maccabi Haifa 4-3 on aggregate. Juggling with these extra demands, as well as the tedious Thursday-Sunday schedule, is a whole new challenge that awaits Le Racing this season.

0-0 Correct Score
13/2

Bet365

 

Metz Preview – Away record of Les Grenats makes them dangerous?

Relegated at the end of the 2017/18 season, FC Metz’s time in Ligue 2 was brief and their return to Ligue 1 swift as they dominated the division to seal promotion as champions. The margin between themselves and their closest pursuer stood at seven points by the time the season had reached its conclusion, which serves to highlight the outstanding efforts from Frederic Antonetti and his players.

The team will be desperately hoping to avoid a season similar to the last one spent in the top division of French football, when they finished bottom of the standings. The impressive nature of their promotion would suggest they are better equipped to compete against the best teams in the country, with their record away from home in particular very encouraging as they seek to make a statement of intent first time out here.

No team in France’s Ligue 2 registered more points in away fixtures last season than Metz (W11 D6 L2, GF26 GA12), who went thirteen away games unbeaten (W7 D6) between the months of October and April before going down 1-0 at Nancy in what was their final away encounter of the campaign. Meanwhile, no side conceded fewer goals on the road than their tally of 12, with Antonetti’s defence keeping clean sheets in 53% of such fixtures.

Les Grenats finished the last season in terrific form, losing only one of their final eighteen league matches (W7 D10 L1). Unfortunately, however, pre-season was something of a mixed bag (W2 D2 L2). Wins over Charleroi (2-1) and Seraing (2-0) were offset by defeats against Reims (2-0) and Mainz (0-1).

Strasbourg V Metz Key Facts:

  • Strasbourg finished the 2018/19 Ligue 1 season in 12th position but without a win in their final eight home matches (W1 D4 L3).
  • Metz produced the strongest away form in Ligue 2 last season (W11 D6 L2) and went 13 away games unbeaten at one stage.
  • In recent league contests between these two, Metz are currently unbeaten in seven (W4 D3).

 

Betting Summary

The positives from last season was a decent league position and their surprise capture of the French Cup. Some horrific form in the final third of the campaign, however, is undoubtedly a negative, as could be the fact they were competing in Bulgaria on Thursday evening in the Europa League.

Metz arrive as champions too, albeit carrying the less glamorous tag of being Ligue 2 champions after storming to the title in the league below. Their form en route to securing promotion back to Ligue 1 was nothing short of superb, though, with their away record in particular (W11 D6 L2) catching the eye.

As impressive as their promotion form was, Metz are now facing superior opposition to that which regularly stood in front of them last season. They did, however, start last season in inspired form, winning their first seven matches, and with Strasbourg only having a couple days to recover from their exertions in the Europa League in midweek, the visitors could be primed to capitalise in one form or another.