French Football 
/ James Eastham / 17 February 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Danijel Ljuboja is congratulated by Nice coach Eric Roy
"Nice may be struggling near the foot of the table but boast impressive stats of W5-D3-L3 on home soil. Only league leaders Lille have won there in the past three months."
The ever-in-form James Eastham talks us through his best selections ahead of another weekend of Ligue 1 action.
Lyon (5th) v Nancy (14th) (Friday, 7.45pm kick-off UK time)
Lyon have scored nine times in four games since the start of the New Year, including four away to bitter rivals St Etienne (4-1) last weekend. Yoann Gourcuff has been in miserable form all season but finally found his range from set-pieces, setting up Lyon's first two goals from corners.
Nancy's games feature lots of goals because their defence is among the worst in the division (only wooden-spoon holders Arles have conceded more) but Julien Feret in one of the division's best playmakers and Youssouf Hadji a combative striker with good finishing skills. The pair were excellent in last week's 3-1 win over Auxerre, with supporting cast Alexandre Cuvillier and Marama Vahirua equally influential.
Seven of Nancy's 11 away league games and their last six home and away in all competitions have featured over 2.5 goals.
Lorient (11th) v Bordeaux (9th) (Sat, 8pm)
It took Lorient's players a short time to adapt to the artificial surface laid at their Stade du Moustoir last summer but the new pitch has turned into a key asset over the past five months. Since mid-September their record on it in all competitions is W9-D2-L0, including clean sheets in their last four league outings. Lorient also boast the division's in-form striker in Kevin Gameiro, who has scored six goals in his last four games.
Bordeaux are a shadow of the side that lifted the league title two seasons ago. They've won only one of their last nine fixtures and have recorded just one victory on the road against sides currently outside the bottom six. Goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso is one of the most overworked in the division.
Lorient are far too big at [2.50].
Nice (16th) v PSG (4th) (Sun, 4pm)
Nice may be struggling near the foot of the table but boast impressive stats of W5-D3-L3 on home soil. Only league leaders Lille have won there in the past three months.
This is a good time to face PSG, too: the visitors have failed score in their past two league games and had a difficult Europa League game against BATE Borisov in sub-zero conditions in Minsk on Thursday night. Only three of PSG's first-team squad (Sylvain Armand, Siaka Tiene and Claude Makelele) missed that game so the squad will be tired this weekend.
The price on Nice avoiding defeat looks too big.
Nice (16th) v PSG (4th) (Sun, 4pm) and Toulouse (8th) v Rennes (2nd) (Sun, 8pm)
This is the under goals multiple selection of the weekend.
Nice's last 14 games have all had under 2.5 goals. Les Aiglon
s are the division's second-lowest scorers with just 15 from 23 games. They have an average goals-per-game count of 1.81.
PSG have failed to score in their last two league games and two of three away matches. The entire attack is suffering as a result of star man Nene's poor form.
Toulouse are one of the division's most shot-shy sides. They didn't manage a single attempt on target in last weekend's 2-0 defeat at Lille. Fifteen of their 23 (65%) matches have had under 2.5 goals.
Rennes' away stats are remarkable: eight scored and 11 conceded gives a goal-per-game count of 1.73. Eight of those 11 away games - and eight of their last 10 home and away - have featured under 2.5 goals.
An under 2.5 goals double on these two games pays out at [2.36].
Best Bet:
Lorient to beat Bordeaux @ [2.50].
Other Recommended Bets: Lyon v Nancy over 2.5 goals @ [2.00]; Nice +0.25 v PSG at [2.05]; Nice v PSG and Toulouse v Rennes under 2.5 goals double @ [2.36].
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