•Monaco also scored eight goals across their three home games vs the eventual bottom-three in 2020/21 and boasts a very positive all-time L1 H2H record.
•With Nantes playing under four different managers across the last 49 league rounds, a lack of consistent leadership has affected them.
Image: /REUTERS
Monaco vs Nantes, Friday (22:00)
The 2021/22 Ligue 1 campaign begins for Monaco after a successful trip to Prague in midweek. That could give them an edge in terms of match sharpness, especially with the arrival of young Dutch dynamo Myron Boadu from AZ on August 4. He had a strong 2020/21 Eredivisie season and finished third in the open-play scoring charts.
As if the projections for this match couldn’t be clearer, only annual title favourites PSG had a higher win rate as a L1 match-day favourite than Monaco’s 66.67% last term.
Monaco also scored eight goals across their three home games vs the eventual bottom-three in 2020/21 and boasts a very positive all-time L1 H2H record.
With Nantes playing under four different managers across the last 49 league rounds, a lack of consistent leadership has affected them.
Even so, ‘Les Canaries’ have won as many L1 games under current manager Antoine Kombouaré as they did in the 35 games prior to his arrival.
The visitors survived through the away goals rule alone in the 2020/21 relegation play-off.
A shock win here will largely erase the traumatic memories of that battle, but they are win-less in four L1 season openers, and a failure to find victory here at long odds will see them equal a five-game run of drawn/lost opening assignments spanning from 1971-1975.
Head to head
31.01.21 L1 Nantes Monaco 1 : 2
13.09.20 L1 Monaco Nantes 2 : 1
25.10.19 L1 Nantes Monaco 0 : 1
16.02.19 L1 Monaco Nantes 1 : 0
11.08.18 L1 Nantes Monaco 1 : 3
Troyes vs PSG, Saturday (22:00)
Troyes earned their fourth promotion from Ligue 2 in a decade the last term after winning the title by five points, scoring in an impressive 89.47% of their league matches. Having been immediately relegated from Ligue 1 following their last three promotions, their latest challenge begins with a tough assignment as they’ve lost seven straight H2Hs against Paris Saint-Germain, five of them ‘to nil’.
Having spent significantly to strengthen their squad in the summer, twice breaking their transfer record, Troyes’ home form—key to their title win last term could make or break their season. And if they should unexpectedly be leading late on, it’s worth noting that none of their final four home league matches last season featured scoring after the 75th minute.
After falling short against Lille in both last season’s title race and the Trophée des Champions last week, PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino is under pressure to deliver silverware, especially after making several high-profile summer signings. Encouragingly, since taking over, his side has never lost two consecutive competitive matches, although they did under his predecessor to open their 2020/21 campaign.
Included in that poor start was one of the two away league losses that they suffered against the sides promoted from Ligue 2 the season beforehand. Nevertheless, PSG eventually recorded a better away record in the league last term than at home, and are unbeaten the last ten times they opened the scoring in such matches.
Head to head
03.03.18 L1 Troyes PSG 0 : 2
29.11.17 L1 PSG Troyes 2 : 0
13.03.16 L1 Troyes PSG 0 : 9
28.11.15 L1 PSG Troyes 4 : 1
13.04.13 L1 Troyes PSG 0 : 1
Nice vs Reims, Sunday 14:00
It has been a summer of expansion and expense for Nice, after a disappointing 9th placed finish in Ligue 1 last season. The attacking additions of AZ’s Calvin Stengs and Roma’s Justin Kluivert are set to inspire on the pitch, while their capture of manager Christophe Galtier —who led Lille to a stunning French title last campaign - will bring some much-needed experience into the dug-out.
Candidly, the ‘Eaglets’ struggled to take flight during the 2020/21 campaign, never winning more than two consecutive L1 matches and scoring an average of just 1.32 goals per match— the joint-ninth best return. That trend could continue here too, as they face a Reims side that twice kept them goal-less last campaign.
After the heights of their 6th placed L1 finish in the 2019/20 campaign, Reims plummeted back down the table last season and narrowly avoided a relegation play-off finish by just two points. Their last season top scorer Boulaye Dia has also departed for Villarreal.
Head to head
11.04.21 L1 Nice Reims 0 : 0
06.12.20 L1 Reims Nice 0 : 0
05.02.20 L1 Reims Nice 1 : 1
03.11.19 L1 Nice Reims 2 : 0
19.01.19 L1 Reims Nice 1 : 1