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Arun - July 26, 2019
Lorient vs Paris FC
France – Ligue 2
Date: Monday, 29 July 2019
Kick-Off at 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
Venue: Stade du Moustoir (Lorient).
In the last match of the 1st round of the French Ligue 2, Lorient welcomes Paris FC.
Lorient, once a standard member of the elite rank, is one of the main favorites for promotion this season. Two years ago they finished 8th, then they tried a bit harder, but only finished 7th and missed out on Play Offs because of a worse goal difference than Lens. Third time’s a charm?
Manager Mickael Landreau left the club and Christophe Pelissier from Amiens arrived in his place. The very fact that he arrived from Ligue 1 speaks volumes about the ambition and potential of Lorient.
Transfer market is a ‘living thing’, but it seems Lorient won’t make radical changes. Only two notable players left the team- Courtet (32 games/ 2 goals) and Siddy Sarr (19 games / 0 goals).
Les Merlus spent 1.5m euros on a new striker – Umut Bozoka (Nimes), who failed to deliver in Ligue 1, but in the season 17/18 he scored 24 goals in Ligue 2 and helped his team to win a promotion. The same amount of money went to Monaco for a goalkeeper Paul Nardi, who spent last three years in Belgium, playing for Cercle Brugge. In addition to them, several more experienced players have arrived, mostly defenders.
Paris FC had a fantastic season, like a fairy tale, surpassed all expectations and grabbed 4th place and reached Play Offs. They had excellent record at home, where they were defeated only once, but that did not help them play against Lens in PO Round 1 when they lost after the penalty shootout.
Manager Mesa Bazdarevic is still there, but many players have left the club. Rufli, Karamoko, Perraud), Ourega, Akichi, N’Guessan, Toure, Saint-Louis, Mamilonne are gone. Their combined numbers, at least in terms of goals, is not impressive, but such a season requires a great atmosphere inside and around the club, chemistry that may no longer exist.
Several players came to the club, mostly from 3rd division; the only one name stands out – striker Romain Armand who scored 13 goals last season for Gazelec Ajaccio.
So far they met four times and Lorient leads the H2H duel with 2-2-0 record.
Lorient celebrated both times at home, 2-0 and 2-1.
Les Merlus scored 2 goals in 3 out of 4 games against Le PFC.
We saw BTTS – YES in three games.
I think Lorient is in a much better position at the moment as they brought experienced coach and kept their most important players. Traditionally, they play well at home, where the have win-draw-loss stats of 19-13-6 and goals 61 scored to 34 conceded; record over two years in Ligue 2.
Too many important players have left Paris FC and this rebuild can cost them. In the pre-season, they achieved only one victory, against the 3rd. division side – US Quevilly.
Ligue 2 games are always hard to predict, especially early on, but home win looks like a decent choice and odds are pretty good.
The top pick for this match is Lorient to win @ 2.00 (1/1) odd
A decent alternate is Lorient to score first @ 1.65 (13/20).
