Ligue 1 Preview Gameweek 7

This week sees the first lot of midweek Ligue 1 fixtures and there are a few interesting ties, where teams have a great chance of either closing the gap on the leaders or escaping the bottom three.

 

Angers v Reims
Date 22/09/2015 – Venue – Stade Jean Bouin – Kick Off 18:00 (UK Time)

Angers and Reims begin the first midweek match of the season at the Stade Jean Bouin; two sides which have had very impressive starts to the season. Reims are currently 5^th after their brilliant result in the last game where they earned a point against PSG, and they will be looking to close the gap on the leaders once again at Angers. The visitors could be without goalkeeper Kossi Agassa after he was substituted with an injury again in the previous match and David N’Gog and Antoine Conte are still sidelined.

The hosts will also be up for this game after their much needed win last time around against Troyes. They go into this game in 6^th place knowing a win will take them above Reims in the league standings. Angers will be without Goran Karanovic and Giles Sunu who are injured and Cheikh Ndoye begins the first match of his suspension after his red card against in the last game.

 

Paris Saint-Germain v Guingamp
Date 22/09/2015 – Venue – Parc des Princes – Kick Off 20:00 (UK Time)

After a number of teams closed the gap on them last weekend, PSG will be looking to extend their lead at the top of the table once more with his home game against in-form Guingamp. PSG are still unbeaten in the league and while they still keep picking up results even in games where the performance has been lacking, it looks unlikely this will change. Les Parisians could still be without Adrien Rabiot and David Luiz who have both taken knocks but there are no concerns over the team from last weekend.

Guingamp have really picked up after their tough start and have won three successive Ligue 1 games. After moving up to 8^th in the league and seeing PSG struggle in their previous game they will be confident they can cause an upset at the Parc des Princes. With the only relevant team news being the absence of Maxime Baca and Dorian Leveque, Jocelyn Gourvennec has the option to name an unchanged side from last week.

 

Gazélec Ajaccio v Rennes
Date 23/09/2015 – Venue – Stade Ange Casanova – Kick Off 18:00 (UK Time)

Rennes travel to Gazélec on Wednesday evening in astonishing form; winning four and drawing one in their last five matches. They will view the last game as a missed opportunity to go to the top of the league but in 2^nd place and about to play the league’s bottom club, Rennes will be full of assurance going into this one. The only notable absentees for the visitors are Ludovic Baal and Benoit Costil who are injured after their involvement in a number of games this season.

Le Gaz scored their first league goal of the season last week at Guingamp but they are still bottom of the table and enter this match with the possibility of losing six consecutive matches. There’s no real sign of the hosts’ fortunes changing anytime soon and the last team they want to play is one of the league’s most consistent performers. Gazélec will be without Issiaga Sylla who was dismissed in the last game, while Amos Youga has a hamstring injury and Khalid Boutaib may also miss the game after receiving a knock at the weekend.

 

Lorient v Caen
Date 23/09/2015 – Venue – Stade du Moustoir – Kick Off 18:00 (UK Time)

Both Lorient and Caen go into this game on the back of victories, the more impressive of the two being Lorient’s 3-2 at Monaco which put them 10^th in the league. The win would have really given the team morale a boost following a difficult start to the season and Les Merlus will be looking to get a third successive victory in this game. The home side will be hoping Benjamin Jeannot recovers from his knock so Sylvain Ripoll doesn’t have to make any changes to the team that won last weekend.

Caen left it late to win against Montpellier in the last game and they will need to improve to get a result at the Stade du Moustoir, but they are 4^th in the league and this match has the potential to be one of the best of the week. Jonathan Delaplace could still be sidelined with a hamstring problem but they do have Damien Da Silva and Syam Ben Youssef returning from suspensions.