Ligue 1 preview: round 9

French Ligue 1 returns into action after the international break and Olympique Lyon are leading the title race at the moment. Bordeaux and surprise package Montpellier are just behind the leaders, while Marseille and PSG are slowly falling behind. Monaco and Lorient are also exceeding expectations at the moment, while Toulouse, Nice and Lille are not doing as well as last season. After eight rounds, Grenoble are the only team yet to pick up any points. Will anything change after this round?

In the first match of the round Auxerre will host second-placed Bordeaux in an attempt to continue the great run of results. Auxerre took 10 points from last 4 rounds and they enter the match high on confidence, unlike their opponents who lose to Saint Etienne in the last round. Nevertheless, Laurent Blanc’s side have too much quality at the moment for the hosts and I am pretty sure they will win the game.

High-flying Montpellier are set to host awakened Saint Etienne in what should be a very interesting match. The hosts have been exceeding expectations so far but Saint Etienne should have enough in them to win this match.

Leaders Lyon face an easy job against struggling Sochaux and home win looks like a banker here. Claude Puel will have much bigger squad to choose from then few weeks back and Les Gones are expected to record a big win.

Relegation strugglers Le Mans and Boulogne are set for a very important match as these are the teams that will be involved in the relegation fight. These are two evenly matched teams but I will give a slight advantage to Le Mans only because of the home field advantage.

The big question is whether Grenoble will be able to win their first points of the season. They travel to Valenciennes to face free-scoring hosts and maybe this is the time for them to kick-start their season. The odds are Grenoble will get something from this match but it will probably be just one point.

Marseille need to prove they are serious title contenders as they are already six points behind the leaders. Nancy have beaten them 3:0 at Velodrome last season and it’s payback time. I see Marseille just winning this one.

Last game on Saturday will see a derby match between Lille and Rennes (Lille-Rennes odds). Both sides were expected to challenge for the European places this term but are somewhat struggling at the moment and we expect a very exciting match as both sides will be looking for a win. Rennes is my choice here as they are the better team.

In-form Lorient play host to Nice and this is where we are likely to see a surprise. Lorient are exceeding expectations while the situation with Nice is totally different and maybe it’s time for things to fall into place. Away win.

Monaco have the chance to remain very close to the top as they host Lens, the team that have started to struggle after the good start of the season. Nevertheless, the hosts will not have an easy job and i can see a very good Lens side taking at least one point.

The pick of the round is Toulouse-PSG match that will be played on Sunday evening. Both teams are underperforming at the moment and this is obviously a chance to kick-start their season. PSG are far from desired form and I don’t think they’ll be able to penetrate Toulouse’s impressive defence. Draw.

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