James Eastham has the odds and advice ahead of Ligue 1’s ‘Classique’ taking place this weekend…
“Five of Marseille’s nine Ligue 1 games and seven of PSG’s 10 Ligue 1 games have featured three or more goals this season. The average goals-per-game count across the two teams’ 19 fixtures is 3.32.”
Red-hot Rennes to win again
Rennes vs Strasbourg (7th vs 8th)
Sun, 14:00 BST
Live on Betfair Live Video
Rennes head into this game in outstanding form and are a good bet to collect all three points against Strasbourg on Sunday afternoon.
The Brittany outfit are W5-D1-L0 from their last six games in all competitions, a run that includes a 2-0 home win over PSG earlier this month.
Rennes’ home form is another reason to support the hosts: since they appointed ex-Lyon manager Bruno Genesio as their boss earlier this year they are W8-D3-L1 in all competitions at Roazhan Park.
Rennes strengthened their attack over the summer and their policy is paying off: Gaetan Laborde and Kamaldeen Sulemana, signed from Montpellier and Nordsjaelland respectively for £14 million each, have been excellent.
Laborde has netted four goals in six Ligue 1 starts at a rate of a goal every 125 minutes while 19-year-old Sulemana is a lavishly talented winger with an eye for the spectacular.
Strasbourg arrive in confident mood having thrashed lowly St Etienne 5-1 last weekend.
They have three fine attackers of their own in Ludovic Ajorque, Habib Diallo and Kevin Gameiro. Between them the trio have netted 11 Ligue 1 goals at a rate of a goal every 172 minutes.
Given the attacking quality on both sides, Over 2.5 Goals at 2.01/1 and ‘Yes’ in the Both Teams to Score? market at 1.910/11 are worth considering.
But the primary selection is on Rennes to continue their remarkable form by claiming another victory.
A classic ‘Classique’ on cards
Marseille vs PSG (3rd vs 1st)
Sun 19:45 BST
Live on BT Sport 2 and Betfair Live Video
Arch-rivals Marseille and PSG go head-to-head in what promises to be an absorbing encounter at Stade Velodrome on Sunday night.
Jorge Sampaoli’s hosts will genuinely believe they can genuinely stop the champions earning all three points.
A 10-point gap has already opened up between these two sides (Marseille have a game in hand) but PSG have not played as well as their W9-D0-L1 record would suggest.
Mauricio Pochettino’s players have not dominated games the way you would expect, and Marseille will draw confidence from that.
The clash of the managers will be a fascinating one and both men prefer their teams to dictate the game.
Front-foot football is the pair’s preferred style, so it seems inevitable the match will open up at some point.
Marseille have kept clean sheets in just three of their nine league games to date, conceding seven goals across their five home matches.
The hosts’ chances of shutting out Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar appear close to nil so Marseille are likely to have to score at least once to get anything from the game.
Dimitri Payet has been arguably Ligue 1’s outstanding player this season and will be motivated to turn on the style in front of the millions watching at home across France.
He has been brilliant in open play as well as from set-pieces, and is the man most likely to prise apart PSG’s back line.
The array of attacking talent on both sides makes going high on goals an appealing proposition and the stats will be on your side, too.
Five of Marseille’s nine Ligue 1 games and seven of PSG’s 10 Ligue 1 games have featured three or more goals. The average goals-per-game count across those 19 fixtures is 3.32.
Over 3.0 on the Goal Lines market is available at 1.9520/21 and this is the smart selection on the match.
Source: BetFair French
