Our props column for Wednesday takes in Nice’s trip to PSG where Paul Higham is backing Amine Gouiri to have a couple of shots on target at a decent price…
PSG v Nice
Wednesday 1 December 20:00 kick-off
Live on BT Sport 2
Paris St-Germain are marching towards another Ligue 1 title but they will have their work cut out for them on Wednesday with third-placed Nice able to offer them a stern challenge.
PSG suffered a bitterly disappointing Champions League defeat at Man City but then responded with a win at St Etienne that stretched their imposing lead at the top of the table to 12 points.
That’s because Nice, previously their closest challengers, suffered an upset home defeat against struggling Metz – but they’ve already proved they’re a better team on the road than at home.
Only PSG themselves have won more points or scored more goals away from home this season, while Nice have the best defence in Ligue 1 and best goal difference.
In new manager Christophe Gaultier, Nice also have the man who knows how to stop PSG winning this league, as he led Lille to a surprise title triumph last season. He’s got the blueprint to beating the billionaires.
PSG have a big doubt over the fitness of now seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi due to illness, while they’re also without Neymar after he picked up an ankle injury at the weekend. Georginio Wijnaldum, Julina Draxler and Ander Herrera are all missing.
A lot will rest with Kylian Mbappe then to stretch their 100 percent home record (P7 W7) and maintain their average of about 2.7 goals per game at the Parc des Princes. With PSG only securing two clean sheets at home then we should see goals on both sides here.
Both teams have scored in three of the last four meetings between these sides, and in PSG’s last six matches in a row, while for Nice it’s a record of four in six for both teams to score.
So while PSG are huge favourites and should win despite a host of injuries – you can certainly get at them and it’s the away side Nice that we’re looking at for some props value.
Top scorer Amine Gouiri is the man to focus on with eight goals to his name – and five of those coming away from home show that his game is well suited to playing on the break.
He’s 3.7511/4 to score anytime here but you can get slightly better odds on him to hit the target twice – as you can back Gouiri to have 2+ shots on target at 4.03/1.
And it’s not like he hasn’t done that before, as he’s hit the target 20 times this season from 33 attempts, and more often than not he’s had multiple shots on target in a single game.
Gouiri has eight games where he’s had two or more shots on target, with five of those coming in away games so although this is the toughest game you can have in Ligue 1, if any side can get attacking success it’s Nice.
Source: BetFair French
