Ligue 1 Betting: Montpellier's miserly defence will make Marseille work hard

Nice v Metz (16th v 20th)
Sat 19:00 GMT
Live on Betfair Live Video

Nice have been frustratingly inconsistent this season but this is a great chance for them to record a second consecutive victory. They came from 1-0 down to win 2-1 at Toulouse in midweek and now face even more inferior opponents in Metz.

Metz have been rooted to the foot of the table all season and their lack of quality all over the pitch hands Nice an excellent chance of collecting all three points. Metz's record is an abysmal W1-D1-L13 and their change of manager last month has yet to make any difference. New boss Frederic Hantz has a fine track record but is struggling to improve a squad that looks deficient in all areas.

Nice have far more quality, and post-match comments after their win over Toulouse suggest the players are keen to put together a good run of results

The hosts are 1.46 to win so we prefer them on the Asian Handicap. In Mario Balotelli, Alassane Plea, Pierre Lees-Melou and Allan Saint-Maximin they have the attacking potential to win by a couple of goals.

Recommended Bet
Nice -1.0&-1.5 Asian Handicap @ 2.04

Caen v Lyon (6th v 3rd)
Sun, 16:00 GMT
Live on BT Sport 3 and Betfair Live Video

Anybody that saw Lyon suffer a shock 2-1 home defeat to 19th placed Lille on Wednesday may worry about supporting the visitors but Bruno Genesio's side have the quality and motivation to bounce back on Sunday afternoon.

Lyon's surprise midweek defeat was their first loss in 13 matches in all competitions and is likely to be a blip rather than the start of a prolonged period of poor form. That last three away fixtures have ended in 5-0 wins at Nice, Troyes and St Etienne, which bodes well for this trip.

Caen boast a solid W5-D1-L2 home record but have had a relatively easy fixture list (their home wins came against Metz, Dijon, Amiens, Troyes and Bordeaux, all currently 9th or lower in the standings). This game will be a much stiff challenge for them.

Lyon's obvious superiority makes the price on the visitors worth taking.

Recommended Bet
Lyon @ 1.80

Montpellier v Marseille (7th v 2nd)
Sun, 20:00 GMT
Live on BT Sport 2 and Betfair Live Video

Montpellier are one of Ligue 1's surprise packages and their defensive approach looks set to make this a tight encounter. Sitting seventh in the table, Michel Der Zakarian's side have conceded just eight goals in 15 matches and their five-man defence has an impressive record of frustrating the division's top sides.

Draws against PSG (0-0), Monaco (1-1) and Lyon (0-0) prove Montpellier are difficult for the best sides to break down, underlining the tough task Marseille face.

Rudi Garcia's visitors arrive on a 10-game unbeaten run (W7-D3-L0). Florian Thauvin's in tremendous form in attack, yet Marseille's defending has also stood out: they've kept clean sheets in four of their last five Ligue 1 matches.

With Montpellier happy to sit back and and Marseille solid in defence, this should be a fascinating but not necessarily high-scoring fixture.

Recommended Bet
Under 2.5 Goals @ 1.80