Ligue 1 Tips

Ligue 1 Tips: Marseille to sign off with big win before international break

James Eastham looks at the odds and smart selections ahead of the latest round of matches in France's top flight...

Sampaoli's men set to shine again

Marseille vs Metz (3rd vs 19th)
Sun, 12:00 GMT
Live on BT Sport 3 and Betfair Live Video

Marseille are shorts odds to win on Sunday lunchtime but it's still worth finding a way to make Jorge Sampaoli's hosts pay.

L'OM are 1.42 to win, with Metz 8.2 and The Draw 5.1.

Instead of backing Marseille on the Match Odds market, look at the Asian Handicap market so you can get a bigger price on the home side.

With our selection, you need Marseille to win by two or more goals to earn a profit, but there are plenty of reasons to believe the game will play out like this.

At first, Marseille's W3-D2-L1 home record looks good rather than outstanding, with their 50% win rate a reason to think twice before backing the hosts.

But Marseille have generally only dropped points vs better opposition: they lost 3-2 vs Lens (currently 4th in the standings) and drew 0-0 vs PSG (1st).

Against weaker sides, they've impressed at home: they brushed aside St Etienne (20th) 3-1, and saw off Lorient (13th) 4-1. Home and away, their record against sides below the top six is W4-D2-L1.

Metz go into this game on a run of three defeats and a draw, their sole point earned vs current bottom side St Etienne. Their away form is woeful: their last three fixtures on the road have ended in defeats vs Lens (4-1), Angers (3-2) and Strasbourg (3-0).

Support Marseille, and for a full guide to Asian Handicap betting, click here.

Firepower key to Strasbourg win

Nantes vs Strasbourg (9th vs 7th)
Sun, 14:00 GMT
Live on Betfair Live Video

Strasbourg go into this game on a high after a massive win last weekend and their momentum ought to ensure they avoid defeat at Nantes.

They thrashed Lorient 4-0 last Sunday and could have won even more comfortably but eased off after racing into a 3-0 HT lead.

Habib Diallo (pictured above) was on the scoresheet twice while his talismanic attacking partner Ludovic Ajorque found the net with a typically smart header. Those two plus fellow striker Kevin Gameiro have 14 league goals between them this season, notched at a rate of a goal every 160 minutes.

Strasbourg will relish facing moderate opposition such as Nantes on the road as they've had a tough fixture list: away from home they've faced PSG (currently 1st), Lens (4th), Rennes (5th) and Lyon (6th). The only time they faced lower-ranking opposition - Montpellier (11th) - they avoided defeat (1-1).

Nantes lost 2-0 at Montpellier last weekend and have dropped points vs bottom-six sides Bordeaux (1-1 draw) and Reims (3-1 defeat) in recent outings. Their defence is the concern: they've kept just two clean sheets in 12 league games so far so it's difficult to see them shutting out a Strasbourg attack on fire.

Nantes are 2.36 to win, with Strasbourg 3.05 and The Draw 3.35. While Strasbourg are an appealing proposition, the Draw No Bet market (or 0 on the Asian Handicap) is perhaps a smarter alternative.

Supporting Strasbourg on the Draw No Bet market means you will make a profit if Strasbourg win, and get your stakes back if the game ends in a draw.