MARK O’Haire (@MarkOHaire) picks out his best bets from Wednesday’s Ligue 1 card.
Nice v Bordeaux | Wednesday 18.00
Both Teams To Score is even-money with 888 and if you’ve followed this column from the start of the season you’d know Nice are always likely to play their part in a successful BTTS bet.
The home side are still without Niklas Hult, Simon Pouplin, Mahamane Traoré and Romain Genevois with head coach Claude Puel yet to be able to field the same four-man backline twice in a row. Consequently, Les Aiglons have gone 12 games without keeping their sheets clean including nine at their Allianz Riviera home.
Les Rouge et Noir failed to score for the first time this season last week and although their superb attacking trio of Hatem Ben Arfa, Valere Germain and Alassane Plea will be broken up here due to Plea’s injury, you’d still back the hosts to get on the scoresheet. They netted three goals thanks to a series of deadly counter attacks in the derby at Bastia on Saturday and should be capable of doing more damage.
A huge 14 of Nice’s last 18 have featured three goals or more with BTTS banking in 26/44 (59%) of fixtures since the start of last season. Taking solely their Allianz Riviera form into account, Nice have been involved with 14/22 (64%) of Both Teams To Score bets.
Wednesday’s opponents Bordeaux have followed suit in their road trips with 12/22 (55%) successful BTTS selections and Willy Sagnol’s visitors can call upon in-form Enzo Crivelli to lead the line alongside Diego Rolan. Les Girondins looked leggy against local rivals Toulouse on Sunday following two gruelling games against PSG and Liverpool so a goal-heavy game should be in store.
Lyon v Bastia | Wednesday 18.00 | BT Sport 1
Lyon will have been disappointed not to have stolen a march on Marseille in Sunday’s blockbuster. Les Gones made all the running, enjoyed the lion’s share of goalscoring opportunities and played most the match against 10 men following seen Romain Alessandrini’s sending off.
Hubert Fournier’s men were forced to accept a 1-1 draw but the signs were promising and now Lyon supporters are hoping last season’s surprise package can finally get their first home win of the season on Wednesday night. Bastia visit the Stade Gerland and it’s difficult to imagine the Corsicans leaving without defeat.
Bastia have W3-D4-L10 in their most recent 17 away Ligue 1 games, keeping only two clean sheets. They’ve W1-D9-L19 in their past 29 top-flight trips to Lyon, been beaten in 16/20 visits to top-half teams and arrive on the back of a three-match losing streak. Alexander Djiku and François Kamano are both available again for Ghislain Printant but they’re unlikely to stop the flow.
Les Gones may be winless in four on home soil (W0-D3-L1) dating back to last term – their longest run without a Stade Gerland win since December 2009 – but Alexandre Lacazette finally netted his first goal of the season on Sunday and Sergi Darder made a solid debut. Even without Nabil Fekir, Lyon have enough in the attacking trio of Mathieu Valbuena, Claudio Beauvue and Alexandre Lacazette to overcome a -1 Asian Handicap at 5/6 (BetVictor).
With this selection, we’ll get our cash back should Lyon win by just one goal. But a two-goal winning margin or better results in profit and that’s a feat the hosts have managed in 10/22 home Ligue 1 matches since the start of last season whilst Bastia have been beaten by two or more in eight away days across the same span.
Best Bets
Nice v Bordeaux – Both Teams To Score (1/1 888)
Lyon v Bastia – Lyon -1 Asian Handicap (5/6 BetVictor)
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