Ligue 1 Preview: Round 33

Posted Saturday, April 17, 2010 by Goal.com

Saturday, April 17, 2010 (all kick-off times CET)

19:00 Auxerre vs. Lorient
19:00 Boulogne-Sur-Mer vs. Olympique de Marseille
19:00 Grenoble Foot38 vs. Sochaux
19:00 Nice vs. Racing Club de Lens
19:00 Stade Rennais vs. Nancy
19:00 Valenciennes vs. Le Mans
21:00 Girondins de Bordeaux vs. Olympique Lyonnais (preview)

Sunday, April 18

17:00 Lille vs. Monaco
17:00 Montpellier vs. Toulouse
21:00 Saint-Etienne vs. Paris Saint-Germain

Auxerre vs. Lorient

Still clinging doggedly on in the title race, Auxerre will be looking to improve their position in the standings once again on Saturday. Currently placed second, playing early in the weekend gives AJA the ideal opportunity to cement their spot in the top three, having struggled to a late 1-0 victory over Nancy last weekend.

At the present time, Jean Fernandez’s side simply aren’t conceding goals, and though wins have proven a little harder to come by in recent times, they remain a good outside bet for the title. Aurelien Capoue should make his return from injury in the next few days, but Delvin N’Dinga and Jean-Pascal Mignot will both be sidelined for a while longer.

Lorient’s 1-1 draw with local rivals Rennes last weekend has probable ended the Bretons’ hopes of Europe, but they will want to finish what has been a fine season strongly. They will be without the suspended Pierre Ducasse, while there is also a doubt over the fitness of Marama Vahirua, who is the league’s leading assist maker this season.

Boulogne-Sur-Mer vs. Olympique de Marseille

Five points clear at the top of the table all of a sudden, it’s Didier Deschamps’ Marseille side who look to be the team ready to make the decisive break from what has been a large pack of sides wrestling for the league title. Les Phoceens make the long journey north on Saturday for a difficult match against a Boulogne side who have already frustrated Bordeaux and Lyon at the Stade de la Liberation this season.

USBCO have seen many of their injury problems clear up in recent times, but there are still a number of selection problems to cause coach Laurent Guyot a real headache. The Pas-de-Calais side have been in pretty good form of late, comparatively speaking, but last weekend’s tame defeat in Lens may prove a killer blow to them.

OM, on the other hand, seem to be getting stronger with each passing week. ‘DD’ still has a number of issues to content with, as he will not be able to call upon either Bakari Kone or Hatem Ben Arfa for the weekend’s fixture, but Mathieu Valbuena does return to the fold after missing out due to a ban in midweek.

Grenoble Foot38 vs. Sochaux

Grenoble became the first team to slide through the relegation trapdoor last weekend, when their 4-0 thumping in Toulouse combined with Saint-Etienne’s win over Sochaux to push les Verts into an unassailable position in comparison to the bottom club, who never recovered after a woeful start to the season.

Mecha Bazdarevic, the home coach, is all but certain to leave the post at the end of the season, with Sainte one of the club’s reportedly linked to him, but he will want to run down his time with Grenoble in a successful manner. A host of defensive injuries give the trainer plenty of cause for concern as the Stade des Alpes club look for some positives before next term’s Ligue 2 campaign.

Francis Gillot, coach of Sochaux, is in a rather more relaxed position with his side, safe in the knowledge that they are all but safe. Les Lionceaux will again sweat over the well being of Stephane Dalmat and Teddy Richert, while Charlie Davies hopes to be in action within the next two or three weeks.

Nice vs. Racing Club de Lens

Eric Roy’s Nice may have been on the wrong end of a derby thumping by Marseille at Stade Velodrome last weekend, but that was largely expected. Though it was Roy’s first defeat since taking the helm of les Aiglons, the Mediterranean club have a miserable record at the home of their rivals, and in any case, three wins and a draw in their four previous games already had them safe.

Le Gym approach Saturday’s fixture against Lens simply looking to jostle a little more for position. They are placed in the bottom half of the Ligue 1 table, and since caretaker boss Roy is set to leave the club in the summer, there is almost a sense that the season is over already. Loic Remy is still trying to overcome injury, though he may return here.

Lens suffered Coupe de France defeat at the semi-final stage on Tuesday against Monaco, effectively ending their campaign as a competitive force. At times this season has been turbulent for coach Jean-Guy Wallemme, but on the whole it’s been a success, with safety achieved relatively early in the season.

Stade Rennais vs. Nancy

Rennes still had an outside shot at European football before last weekend’s 1-1 stalemate against local rivals Lorient. Frederic Antonetti’s side still do have an opportunity to reach the Europa League berths, but will need to finish the season superbly if they are to do so. That means beating Nancy on Saturday, and that is certainly not an unachievable goal.

There are a number of doubts on the side of the hosts. Asamoah Gyan was withdrawn early last weekend due to a problem and may not play, while Fabien Lemoine is amongst the other players being treated with caution. Petter Hansson has not trained fully this week due to fatigue, but he will start from the outset against Nancy.

The Lorraine club are in fairly good touch going into the weekend, though they did suffer a 1-0 reverse against Auxerre last weekend. Star forwards Youssouf Hadji and Issiar Dia have both been toiling with injury problems of late, with the former definitely missing out and the latter likely to play.

Valenciennes vs. Le Mans

Four defeats in their last five matches is not the strong finish to the campaign Valenciennes envisaged, though their one victory came in the derby encounter against Lille, totally disrupting their guests’ championship hopes.

VA go into Saturday’s encounter with relegation haunted Le Mans knowing that their terrific start to the season has provided them with a platform from which this relaxed conclusion to the campaign has been achieved. There are still a number of injury worries in the home team’s ranks, but Rafael is slowly making progress en route back to the first team.

Arnaud Cormier’s Le Mans side enjoyed a terrific 2-1 victory over Bordeaux in midweek, though that is unlikely to be enough to push them towards safety. Entrenched in the relegation zone ten points behind Saint-Etienne, the situation looks incredibly bleak for MUC, who will be aware that there are only 18 points left to play for this season.

Lille vs. Monaco

Fading from the title picture, Lille need to quickly pick up points if they are to continue their hopes of even a Champions League place next season. Rudi Garcia’s side are recognised as one of the most fearsome offensive units in Ligue 1, and they will have to be to break down a Monaco side who have specialised in goalless draws lately.

Les Dogues go into this encounter in good health, with only Nicolas Plestan liable to miss out because of physical problems. Meanwhile, Tulio de Melo should find himself on the bench once again after an injury plagued season. Ricardo Costa is banned for two games after being dismissed against Lyon last weekend.

Monaco progressed into the Coupe de France final after extra-time against Lens on Tuesday, winning through thanks to a Moussa Maazou effort. Nene was highly influential in that encounter, and the Brazilian ace, who is presently being courted by Benfica amongst others, will look to be equally effective on Sunday, though he did miss a midweek penalty.

Montpellier vs. Toulouse

The terrific charge towards the top of Ligue 1 that Montpellier have made appears to be coming to an end via a sequence of draws, and la Paillade, who picked up a disappointing 2-2 tie in Le Mans last weekend, will have to be careful against a Toulouse side rejuvenated after a 4-0 victory over Grenoble.

Injury and suspension problems are starting to mount for the hosts, who will be without Joris Marveaux for the remainder of the campaign. Additionally, key attacker Victor Hugo Montano is banned, while Nenad Dzodic’s lengthy absence seems set to continue.

With Andre-Pierre Gignac back leading the line last week, Toulouse looked like a team transformed; suddenly potent going forward, with midfielders such as Paulo Machado and Moussa Sissoko ready to cause a menace of themselves. Goalkeeper Yohann Pele is set to miss out for le Tefece after yet another injury setback.

Saint-Etienne vs. Paris Saint-Germain

Victory over Sochaux last weekend means that Saint-Etienne have a healthy ten point advantage on those sides in the drop zone and probably only require a few points to ensure their place in Ligue 1 next season. They will be aiming to plunder a maximum three against a rejuvenated PSG team, who reached the Coupe de France final with a hard-fought victory over Quevilly.

There was a worry in the Sainte ranks last weekend that captain Loic Perrin had picked up another injury problem when he failed to reappear for the second half, but it seems that the versatile midfielder is fine for this encounter. Bakary Sako and Boubacar Sanogo may also be involved.

Les Parisiens don’t have any great injury concerns going into the weekend’s clash. Gregory Coupet and Peguy Luyindula are both closing in on first team football, though Ceara is set to miss out again. The Coupe de France is the priority for the Parc des Princes club, and expect to see their players redouble their efforts ahead of the May 1 final against Monaco.