Ligue 1 Early Bird Acca Tips: Can PSG and Lyon finally get a win?

We are back to find some great value in the third round of Ligue 1 for your Early Bird Acca. Pre-season favourites for the title PSG are still winless. Are they worth opposing again?

Meanwhile, there has been a disaster at Lyon, and they now head to the south coast on Sunday evening to face Nice. Some other teams have been stuttering, leaving just Monaco and Brest with a 100% record so far. The Bretons aim to win at Marseille for the third year running to stay at the top of the standings.

• Early Bird Marseille vs Brest: Brest +1 Asian Handicap
• Early Bird PSG vs Lens: Lens Double Chance (X2)
• Early Bird Nice vs Lyon: Nice to Win

Acca odds: 10.47

Odds via bet365 as at 11:14 (UK) Mon 21st August. Odds may now differ.

Marseille vs Brest: High flying visitors value to keep things close

France, Ligue 1, Saturday 26th August, 16:00 (UK)

Brest have had a tremendous start to the season and look decent value to get something here at Le Stade Velodrome. The visitors are the only team in Ligue 1 apart from Monaco, who still have a 100% record.

They sensationally came from behind to beat Lens 3-2 in the season opener and then beat newly promoted Le Havre 2-1 last week. That fixture vs Le Havre was seen as a potential banana skin facing a tough defence, but Brest created plenty of opportunities. Attacker Romain Del Castillo is in excellent form and is the early pacesetter in the golden boot race, netting three times.

Brest has legitimately decent attacking stats with an overall xG of 4.52, the fourth-best of any team. Eric Roy has done a tremendous job here since taking over in January when they looked in massive trouble.

Marseille are the short-priced favourites to win this game, as low as 1.36 with some books. They are rightful favourites, but not to this degree. OM have not been convincing in any match this season, domestically or in Europe. They suffered the embarrassment of being knocked out of the Champions League by Greek side Panathinaikos and even failed to beat 10-man Metz last weekend.

New manager Marcelino might eventually be a smart hire, but the team needs to get used to his style of football, and there are also several new players who need to be integrated. OM are still showing signs of mental lapses, which keeps costing them in certain periods of matches.

Brest have won on their last two visits to this stadium, including last season when they were a 9/1 underdog! They won’t be afraid, and the Bretons are a big price on a +1 Asian Handicap. At the very least, they can keep this match close against an unconvincing OM. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they left with a point or more.

• Selection: Brest +1 Asian handicap
• Best Odds: 2.33
• Bookmaker: Unibet

PSG vs Lens: Blood and Gold value to avoid defeat in the capital

France, Ligue 1, Saturday 26th August, 20:00 (UK)

PSG are still winless after two matches which is not what anyone expected. It looked like Luis Enrique’s side were going to sneak a tight 1-0 victory vs Toulouse last weekend but conceded a late penalty, ultimately having to settle for a 1-1 draw. PSG looked so toothless in week one that they were forced to concede to Kylian Mbappé’s demands and integrate him into the squad.

The French national team captain also scored from the penalty spot last week but didn’t look at his best. The Parisians only had an xG of 1.25 from open play, which was concerning. They only hit three shots on target and just four the week before in the 0-0 draw vs Lorient. As everyone expected under Luis Enrique, they are dominating possession. But this is not a very convincing team right now, and it feels far from the finished article.

This is a battle between first and second from last season, and it’s interesting that both teams head into the match without a win. Lens opened the scoring twice in their fixtures but were pegged back by Brest and Rennes. Les Sanget Or shockingly lost their opener 2-3 after blowing a 2-0 lead and then had to settle for a point last weekend.

Manager Franck Haise needs to work out what is going wrong for them after getting off to such a good start in matches. There have been some very encouraging periods for Lens. Nevertheless, they just need to string together a consistent performance over 90 mins.

Since returning to Ligue 1, they have played well vs PSG, beating them twice, drawing twice, and only losing a couple of times in six meetings. They look good value to get something from Le Parc des Princes. Haise will have a great tactical game plan here, and their pace on the counter-attack could cause PSG all sorts of problems. Kylian Mbappé will have had a full week to get back sharp and is the obvious danger, but at odds of 2.50, Lens are underrated to avoid defeat.

• Selection: Lens Double Chance (X2)
• Best Odds: 2.50
• Bookmaker: William Hill

Nice vs Lyon: Eagles to pile on the misery for struggling OL

France, Ligue 1, Sunday 27th August, 19:45 (UK)

There is no hiding behind the fact that Lyon has some serious problems. They had one of their worst-ever pre-seasons in living memory and have started the new Ligue 1 campaign just as badly with two consecutive defeats. Losing away to Strasbourg in week one was tolerable, but the way they totally unravelled vs Montpellier last weekend was horrific.

Les Gones suffered a 1-4 reverse in front of their own fans, and it could’ve been even worse. Montpellier legitimately outplayed them and arguably deserved five or six goals. To compound their misery, captain and key talisman, Alexandre Lacazette was sent off for an elbow. He scored their only goal in that contest and will be a big miss in attack.

This could be a tough trip to the south coast. Despite only drawing both games, Nice have looked fairly decent this season. The concern for new manager Francesco Farioli is that they have twice let slip 1-0 leads and conceded late goals. A couple of 1-1 draws vs Lille and Lorient are ok, but Les Aiglons will feel they should have a 100% record. The Mediterranean outfit outplayed Lorient last week, and the stats showed it.

Next weekend’s hosts outshot their opponents 21 to 9 and had an xG of 2.43 compared to 0.75. Nice need to be more clinical with their chances and could be boosted by key striker Terem Moffi being fit enough to start this weekend.

It’s a big surprise to see Nice odds-against to win this match, and surely they will be backed heavily during the week. Lyon are in a total mess and must be opposed until they sort themselves out.

• Selection: Nice to win
• Best Odds: 2.10
• Bookmaker: bet365

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