Stan James Le Championnat Week Five Preview

Stan James Le Championnat Week Five Preview Marseille???8/13Draw??..12/5AC Ajaccio??.17/4Marseille have had a torrid start to the season and they desperately need a win. The problem is that they are meeting an Ajaccio side that are unbeaten and have their tails up. Having said that Marseille did give Deportivo a tuning in midweek in the Intertoto Cup, winning 5-1 and they will undoubtably taken a great deal of confidence from their display. In fact that has to be the call here. Marseille should be too good for Ajaccio, but the one reservation could be the pressure on their manager Jean Fernandez. He just might lose the plot if things don't start well in the game. These are tough times for Olympique Marseille but they could just muster the strength to overcome the Corsicans. Nancy??..5/4Draw??..15/8Rennes??.9/4Nancy do look pretty lightweight in attack after losing their main man Bakari through illness and for this reason it might be worth steering clear of them. Another good reason is the fact that they are currently bottom of the league with no points. Rennes are not the greatest of travellers but they have shown enough to fancy their chances here. Alexander Frei got on the score sheet last week, which is a boost. Rennes do not win enough away from home to be overly confident, but a draw seems a very good shout here. Le Mans??..11/10Draw??..15/8Troyes???13/5To describe these two teams as ones that will be battling for survival this season is a bit hard on them, because both have had reasonable starts. Le Mans have only lost one (and that to Lyon), and Troyes are unbeaten (but they have drawn three), so both sides will be going into the game with their tails up. It could really boil down to which of the two strikers makes their mark. Le Mans' De Milo and Troyes' Dallat will decide this. Both are firing and it wouldn't surprise me if there were plenty of goals here. The result though is difficult to call. Nantes???4/5Draw???2/1Metz???15/4Nantes have had a bullish start to their campaign, and currently lie in 5th. Two wins, a draw and a loss means they will look at this game as a three pointer. The reason is that Metz have been struggling to find any sort of form. They have not won a game yet, the best being two dour 0-0 draws. It is hard to see where the goals are going to come from and at 4/5 Nantes look a decent bet. The club and the city are on the up and big things could be on the horizon. PSG???.8/15Draw??..5/2Nice???.21/4Paris St Germain are currently top dogs in France and they won't be wanting to lose the top spot by slipping up against Nice. Not to say that Nice are not capable because they have proved so far that they are. The thing is that all the luck seems to be with the Parisians at the moment and they have been good at home. The one reservation would be that Troyes out played them last weekend so that is a worry, even though they survived to get a draw. The gut feeling is that PSG will ride their luck again. St Etienne??..10/11Draw??.15/8Sochaux..?.10/3Both these teams have had reasonable starts although St Etienne have shown the more solidity in defence. This could be the difference here with St Etienne showing that they have the gumption for a fight this season. Sochaux are worryingly close to the relegation zone already and they must be worried that they'll slip into the mire if results don't come. All the confidence and momentum will be with the Greens and at 10/11 this is probably the bet of the weekend. Strasbourg??..8/5Draw??..7/4Bordeaux??..15/8Bordeaux netted a coup when they signed Brazilian hotshot Denilson and they have had a strong start to their campaign winning three games out of four. They currently lie in 4th spot. Strasbourg on the other hand haven't won yet but to be fair to them, they haven't had the greatest of luck. It's a tough one to call and I suspect that it might be Strasbourg's day. Monaco??.4/5Draw???2/1Lens???15/4Didier Deschamps was spitting fire in midweek after Monaco were knocked out of the Champions League and he's going to have his players shaking in their boots when they come out on Sunday. The backlash could be too much for Lens. On the other hand free scoring Lens could be Monaco's worst nightmare at a time when their defence is under scrutiny. Lens put 7 past Auxerre last week and they have no injury worries to hinder them. A 2-2 draw would not be an unreasonable scoreline here, but expect goals. Auxerre??.21/10Draw??..21/10Lyon???.6/5It was difficult to take in that Auxerre lost 7-0 to Lens last week. The mental effects of the heavy defeat are bound to be weighing on the players minds. Add to this the fact that they are playing one of the strongest squads in France and they could have problems. Their record against Lyon is also very poor. Lyon themselves have had an unconvincing start and need to settle down now that the Essien saga is over and done with. They'll undoubtably miss him and it might be a few more games before they really start to kick in. For this reason it could be worth opting for the draw at 21/10. other than that embarrassing defeat last week, Auxerre have been pretty solid.