Some fairly entertaining games last week that delivered some 30 goals and saw Lyon,
Bordeaux and Marseille calmly climb to the top of the table.
The self proclaimed black panther Bentafemi Gomis gave Lyon a short victory last weekend but the midweek 5 – 1 thrashing of Anderlecht in the Champions League qualifier looked quite impressive, with stellar performances from Lisandro Lopez (ARG), Michel Bastos (BRA) and Miralem Pjanic (BOS). Auxerre is suffering from the absence of their star Ireneusz Jelen (POL) and the future looks grim with no clear leader to pick up the slack.
Auxerre – Lyon 0 - 4
Le Mans lost vs. Paris and is now facing one of the few surprises of the beginning of the season in Nancy who served a crushing four goal defeat to Monaco thanks to outstanding performances from Alo’o Efoulou (CAM) and Issiar Dia (FRA). Le Mans has too many players on the injury list to perform well Saturday but can count on star striker Thorstein Helstad (NOR) as well as Gabon international Didier Ovono in his Ligue 1 debut.
Le Mans – Nancy 1 - 2
Monaco seems to be heading towards another rollercoaster season after a disheartening defeat to Nancy despite Guy Lacombe’s revamping of the team. Still in need of the striker, they got snubbed this week by Lens’ Aruna Dindane (IVO) who sees his future at Pompey (and the Championship in 2010?) rather than Stade Louis II. Lorient avoided defeat with an injury time goal last week but they won’t be so lucky this time.
Monaco – Lorient 1 - 0
US international Charlie Davies’ brace didn’t prevent a defeat against Ligue 1 Champions Bordeaux but signs show they will do well at Montpellier who led for as much as two goals at Lorient. This time, I see Montpellier getting their first taste of defeat.
Montpellier – Sochaux 1 - 2
This is a real test for St Etienne, playing the newly promoted Boulogne at home. They’ve had many problems and this week’s addition of Werder Bremen striker Boubacar Sanogo could finally make up for the loss of Gomis. Boulogne, led by captain and striker Gregory Thil (FRA), who scored two goals vs. Grenoble, will confirm its good form and bring back one point.
St Etienne - Boulogne 1 - 1
PSG coach Antoine Kombouare is back at his old haunts and you can make sure Valenciennes will want to give him regrets. Mevut Erding (TUR) scored his first goal while Ludovic Giuly (FRA) added one of his own. It is however Guillaume Hoareau’s big return and his first pairing with Erding should deliver.
Valenciennes – PSG 0 - 2
Marseille is also facing a real test playing at Rennes, one of the most likely teams to upset the Top Three, so it will be a tight game. Marseille will be missing Bruno Cheyrou (FRA) and will want to do better than during his laborious victory against Lille. Good news is that veteran striker Mamadou Niang (SEN) extended his contract and might want to celebrate at the expense of the Brittany side.
Rennes – Marseille 1 - 2
Marouane Chamakh (MOR) did a reverse Johann Lescott by scoring two goals at Sochaux and installing Bordeaux at the top of the table but it seems that the player is now heading for the Hammers and the mentoring of Gianfranco Zola. They will face a slightly disappointing Nice who dropped two points versus Rennes.
Bordeaux – Nice 3 – 1
Grenoble had the sad honor of being the first team to fall to young upstarts Boulogne and they should do a little better at home versus a very hungry Lens side who beat Auxerre with goals from their two wingers Kevin Monnet-Paquet (FRA) and Abdoulrazak Boukari (TOG).
Grenoble – Lens 2 - 2
Andre-Pierre Gignac (FRA) scored his first goal for Toulouse last weekend on top of two scored vs. Turkish side Trabzonspor in the Europa League and one for France so it is a promising start for the young star and something’s telling me it is only the beginning. At this pace, Sir Alex might be knocking on Toulouse’s door during the winter transfer window! Lille’s disappointing defeat could have been avoided especially in view of their good performance at Racing Genk in the Europa League. It’s probably a matter of their star striker Gervinho (IVO) finding the goal this weekend.
Lille – Toulouse 2 - 2
I hit six correct predictions out of ten last week, 100% progress…
PS: a quick shout out to tiny Ligue 2 side Guingamp, the surprise winner of the Coupe de France last year who couldn’t prevent from getting steamrolled 1 – 5 by Hamburg SV in the Europa league on Thursday.
-The Frenchman!
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