Ligue 1 - Round 18 - Sunday fixtures

Lille V Lyon - Kicks off at 12:00 - Live on BT Sport ESPN

Here we have two teams doing very well in Europe but mediocre league form. Lille lie in 11th place just two points above Lyon in twelfth with each showing how good they can be at times but struggling to put sustained runs of form together. Out of the two Les Lillois are in better form winning their last three games and unbeaten in eight, including their European matches. Last week Les Dogues best Troyes 2-1 at home with Canadian striker Jonathan David once again making the difference. David scored the equaliser just after half time after coming as a sub then forced an own goal from his shot/cross. The 21 year old scored again midweek in a fantastic 3-1 at Wolfsburg. That’s 17 goals in all Competitions for the Canadian. No wonder there is rumoured interest in him from Arsenal and West Ham.

The victory at Wolfsburg secured top spot in their Champions League group and they qualify to the next round. Left back Reinildo will miss this game through suspension.

Lyon to finished top of their group after a 1-1 draw at home to Rangers on Thursday. They qualify for the next round of the Europa League with five wins and a draw. An impressive record.Their league form remains disappointing. They drew 2-2 at struggling Bordeaux last week and just one victory in the last three league games. A victory here would be welcome particularly as they would leapfrog Lille in the table. Les Gones will be without two big players here. Playmaker and undoubtedly Lyon’s player of the season so far Lucas Paqueta (6 goals, 2 assists) for s suspended and Centre back Jason Denayer (pictured) is injured with an ankle injury.

Denayer who scored at Bordeaux last week could be out until February. Captain and right back Leo Dubois should be fit again to play after recent injury but with Paqueta out I make Lille slight favourites for this. Big game for both clubs.

French Footy prediction: Lille 2 V Lyon 1

Troyes V Bordeaux - Kicks off at 14:00

A big game at the bottom of the table. Although neither are in the bottom three one of them could be by the end of the day if they don’t win here. Troyes have just one win in six although they are usually in very close games. They were only beaten by one goal at Marseille and Lille either side of beating Lorient 2-0. They rarely concede more than 1 in a game but aren‘t scoring enough goals. Midfielder Xavier Chavalerin and winger Mama Baldé are their top scorers with just three each.

Centre back Adil Rami is the main injury concern here and is unlikely to have recovered from the hamstring injury that has kept him on the sidelines recently.

Bordeaux have the opposite problem to Troyes in that they are scoring regularly but conceding too many. Their last five games highlights that perfectly:

Bordeaux 2 - PSG 3

Metz 3 - Bordeaux 3

Bordeaux 1 - Brest 2

Strasbourg 5 - Bordeaux 2

Bordeaux 2 - Lyon 2

The highlight for Bordeaux remains to be the firm of on loan striker Alberth Elis. Against Lyon it was the “Honduran Panther“ who‘s good work forced an own goal before he scored an equaliser on 58 minutes. He has now scored five goals in nine games after a period of injury.

Les Bordelais still have Captain and Centre back Laurent Koscielny out injured which doesn’ help their profligacy at the back.

French Footy prediction: Troyes 2 V Bordeaux 2

Metz V Lorient - Kicks off at 14:00

Metz have struggled all season and were battered last week 4-0 at Monaco. They lie 19th in the table above bottom of the table Saint-Etienne on goal difference only. Les Grenats didn’t manage a single shot on goal which is worrying. They have quality in the team particularly with their full backs but the lack of experience keeps telling. A win here for Frédéric Antonetti‘s team would put them on the same points as Lorient and could get them out of the bottom three. Metz aren’t helped here by suspensions to defenders Jemerson and Kevin N’Doram.

Lorient are one of the worst teams in the league on current form with no win in ten games. Les Merlus haven’t scored for three games and have the lowest amount of goals scored in the league so far. Just thirteen in seventeen games so it’s clear where their problems lie. They have decent strikers in Terem Moffi and Armand Laurienté but don’t crest enough clear chances. They had 19 shots last week at home to Nantes yet only managed to get two on target. Under pressure Manager Christophe Pélissier has been given a public assurance that he will remain coach until the end of the season by Lorien President Loïc Fery. Time will tell if that’s the case. French Footy prediction: Metz 1 V Lorient 0

Angers V Clermont - Kicks off at 14:00

Angers had their sixth win of the season last weekend at Reims. They were helped by a slightly fortuitous penalty awarded in their favour and by Reims having a man de t off in the first half. Les Scoistes get results though and won the game through Sofiane Boufal’s penalty and Angelo Fulgini’s third goal of the season.

Boufal is now Angers top scorer with five goals and three assists. There are no new injury worries or suspensions for Manager Gerald Baticle here. They should be going for the win at home to a side in the bottom three.

Rennes V Nice - Kicks off at 14:00 - Live on BT Sport ESPN

This is a big game as both sides have designs on finishing second. Rennes had a poor start but are now flying with just one defeat in 15 games (including Europe) but had a bad start. Nice had a good start and were looking at one stage like early title contenders. They have lost their way in the last few months however and lie in 4th and 4 points behind Les Rennais. Both teams have quality strikers. Rennes with Gaetan Laborde (14 goals in all competitions this year) and Nice with Laborde’s ex Montpellier team mate Andy Delort, Kasper Dolberg and Amine Gouiri (8 goals and 4 assists. Delort is suspended for this gane after an accumulation of yellow cards so we should see Dolberg and Gouiri up front. Rennes have two important players missing through injury in winger Jeremy Doku and midfielder Flavian Tait. it’s a shame for Doku in particular who has already missed a lot of games through injury and was looking in good form. This should be a close game but Rennes are on form and at home whilst Nice are unpredictable and missing Delort. French Footy prediction: Rennes 2 V Nice 1

Strasbourg V Marseille - Kicks off at 16:00 - Live on BT Sport ESPN

Strasbourg are on a great run. Unbeaten in six just one defeat in nine and scoring plenty of goals. They’ve won their last two games convincingly thrashing Bordeaux 5-2 at home then winning at Nice last week 3-0. The victory against Nice again saw goals from strikers Ludovic Ajorque (9 goal, 5 assists) and Habib Diallo (8 goals, 1 assist).

Les Coureurs are like Brest in that they are happy to give up possession and hit on the break. Like the Bretons they have suddenly got some consistency and are reaping the rewards. They have no new injuries or suspensions and will be looking to get a result at home against a dangerous but unpredictable Marseille side.

Marseille have cleared up the issues they had in conceding goals but their goals have dried up. That’s made their form inconsistent as they’ll often win or lose by a single goal. Last weeks home loss to a resurgent Brest side was disappointing for Coach Jorge Sampaoli as they led until 53rd minute and controlled 75% of possession. Marseille opened the scoring through Brazilian midfielder Gerson who is finally finding his form in Ligue 1. That was his second goal in two games and he came close to scoring again in that game.

Les Marseillais once again couldn’t get that vital second goal and once again it cost them. There is more balance from this Marseille team than we saw at the start of the season but if they can be a little more clinical they could have a good second half of the season. They beat Lokomotiv Moscow in the midweek Europa League dead rubber (OM are already out) but again it was by the single goal. French Footy prediction: Strasbourg 2 V Marseille 1.

PSG V Monaco - Kicks off at 19:45 - Live on BT Sport 3

PSG have not had the best of times in recent weeks at least by their standards. They lost their Champion’s league game at Manchester City and have then win just one of their three Ligue 1 games since. However they are still eleven points clear at the top of the table and comfortably beat Club Brugge in midweek with a brace each from Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.

That result sees them qualify for the next round of the Champions League as group runners up behind City. The recent draws with Nice and Lens have at least slowed their assault on the title and given the rest of the league a little hope. PSG will still be without Neymar Jr due to his ankle injury and veteran defender Sergio Ramos is again injured after only managing one game for the club this season.

Monaco thrashed Metz at home last week 3-0 then followed up with a 1-1 draw at Sturm Graz in the Europa League. Les Monegasques qualified for the next round comfortably as group leaders. Their league form generally has been a huge disappointment and they lie in 8th place. A win here could see them jump up to 4th if other results go their way but noone has managed to win at Parc Des princes this year so it's hard to see Monaco doing it. Manager Niko Kovač has good players at his disposal, particularly up front but they continue to rely too much on their strikers. Wissam Ben Yedder (9 goals) and Kevin Volland (6 goals) will score goals but they need more service. Scoring four goals with five shots on target against Metz is one thing. Sides like PSG will be more of a challenge. It's a shame for Monaco that Volland is suspended for this game as he has three goals in as many games.

French Footy prediction: PSG 2 V Monaco 0