Scores
Raphaël: 88
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Luke: 82
Game of the week: FC Lorient v AS Monaco, Wednesday 20:00 (UK)
Raphaël: Ligue 1 welcomes back its latest World Cup winner back tonight as Lionel Messi takes to the Parc des Princes pitch again. The Argentine will be tasked with inflicting a tenth straight defeat on bottom boys Angers, an Mbappé-less lineup presumably enough of a supporting cast to do so. Elsewhere in this ten-game midweek madness of a matchday, a resurgent Nantes have the chance to send a self-imploding Lyon spiralling into yet more chaos.
Will Still faces his first trip to Corsica (as a manager, at least), his unbeaten record since taking over unlikely to be a match for Ajaccio’s unforgiving home form. Marseille will look to finish a game at their full complement for the first time this year and pick up all three points along the way. Andy Delort watches his former and soon-to-be-other-former club face-off, in a battle of interim managers between Nice and Montpellier that should end in stalemate.
Luke: Paris Saint-Germain welcome back their World Cup winner in what is an ominous sign for bottom side SCO Angers. Whilst there may be no Kylian Mbappé or Achraf Hakimi, the reigning champions should make light work of Wednesday’s task, and it is more a question of how many they will score.
Elsewhere, there is the potential for a few surprises. Marseille travel to an ESTAC Troyes side that have shown signs of improvement under Patrick Kisnorbo. Whether or not Lorient getting a result against Monaco constitutes a shock is a topic for debate, but Philippe Clement’s side won’t have things all their own way when they come up against a youthful side that continue to surprise. Didier Digard takes charge of his first game for Nice just 48 hours after getting the job. A new-manager bounce should take effect, and they should have few issues against a struggling Montpellier.
Raphaël’s full predictions:
Brest 0-1 Lille
Clermont 2-2 Rennes
Nantes 2-1 Lyon
Auxerre 1-1 Toulouse
Ajaccio 2-1 Reims
PSG 3-1 Angers
Troyes 1-3 Marseille
Strasbourg 1-2 Lens
Nice 1-1 Montpellier
Lorient 2-1 Monaco
Luke’s full predictions:
Brest 0-2 Lille
Clermont Foot 1-3 Rennes
Nantes 1-1 Lyon
Auxerre 0-2 Toulouse
Ajaccio 1-2 Reims
PSG 4-0 PSG
Troyes 2-2 Marseille
Strasbourg 0-2 Lens
Nice 3-0 Montpellier
Lorient 1-1 Monaco