Barring the aggressively contested 3-3 draw between Troyes and Nice, Gameweek 2 was a very low scoring weekend with just 10 goals in the other 9 matches.
As expected Paris Saint Germain brushed aside Ajaccio without too much trouble. Daily Fantasy Football managers around the globe were left disappointed as Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed out through injury. The Swede will have to wait for the chance of his first goal vs. Ajaccio after all.
Our PSG
Mondogoal tips faired well with Kevin Trapp securing a clean sheet, Thiago Silva outscored every defender with a massive 18 pointer, while Sideshow Bob lookalike David Luiz managed a more than respectable 9pts. Marco Veratti also picked up a cool 10 points, completing an extraordinary 130 passes, which totalled 6.50pts in itself!
Lyon are yet to hit full throttle and continued this trend in a tedious 1-0 victory away to Guingamp. Substitute Claudio Beauvue made the difference, as a fatigued looking Lacazette struggled once again. Fekir recorded 7.63pts/while Maxime Gonalons disappointed with just 5.5pts.
It is safe to say that our ‘Forward Tips' in the opening weekend did not live up to the hype and Gameweek 2 was also unsuccessful in shaking off this fashion. We advised three bargain buys in Valere Germain, Ivan Cavaleiro and Andy Delort. Nice's Germain proved the highest scorer of the three with 7.64pts, which sums up the poor output from our forwards. Hopefully, Gameweek 3 will be a different story, we will just have to wait and see…
Here's a quick recap of how our
Mondogoal Tips fared in Gameweek 2.
Moving swiftly onto Gameweek 3 and another array of competitive fixtures come into play:
Friday 21st August
Montpellier vs. Paris Saint-Germain
Saturday 22nd August
Lyon vs. Rennes
Nantes vs. Reims
OGC Nice vs. Caen
Toulouse vs. Monaco
SC Bastia vs. Guingamp
GFCO Ajaccio vs. Angers
Sunday 23rd August
Lille vs. Bordeaux
Lorient vs. Saint Etienne
Marseille vs. Troyes
Clean Sheet Potential
Going by the bookies odds Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon and Marseille are the outright favourites. Monaco are always a good shout for a clean sheet and note that Lille have conceded just a single goal this season vs. Paris Saint-Germain, so be aware of ‘Les Douges' as they host Bordeaux. Another side we have a hunch for is Reims. They held off Marseille in a 1-0 victory last week and their confidence is high.
Goalkeeper Tips
The first name that springs to mind is
Kevin Trapp (7.8m). We recommended him last week and we will do so again. Paris Saint-Germain face a wounded Montpellier side and Trapp's fourth consecutive clean sheet, in France, looks likely. We are surprised that the German's price has not increased notably, so he can be snatched with brilliant value.
Our second choice keeper is
Anthony Lopes (9.4m). As we mentioned earlier, Lyon haven't looked themselves recently going forward, but this does not mean they have lacked initiative defensively. Lyon have secured back-to-back clean sheets and if they carry on with this solidity, even if it's dull, we would not be complaining with Lopes in our side. He pulled off two wonder saves to deny Guingamp an equaliser.
Defender Tips
Reims have made a fantastic start to the 2015/16 campaign, coming away with the 3 points against Bordeaux (GW1) and Marseille (GW2). If you are scanning their squad for potential, we can save you the time and effort by recommending left-back
Franck Signorino (7.9m). Reims face goal-shy Nantes, in a match where we feel Reims can nick the win, but most importantly keep a clean sheet in the process.
Over the past 3 seasons, Signorino has performed consistently for Reim's and nothing has changed this year. Just checking out his previous
Mondogoal scores of 7, 8, 8 and his latest 10pts fills us with confidence and underlines his reliability. He provided 4 assists last season and is forever obtaining tackle and interception points. Some readers may argue that
Hamari Traore (5.9m), the goal-scoring hero vs. Marseille is the better option, at a better price. However, he is very much hit or miss and too rash (2 bookings in last 2 matches) in our eyes to displace his counterpart, Signorino. If you are on a budget Traore is definitely a good option in the Reims backline.
Moving on it's hard to ignore
Thiago Silva (10.9m) after his faultless display vs. GFCO Ajaccio. The Brazilian is always an aerial threat, he passes effectively and he tackles efficiently; all you want for a
Mondogoal defender. PSG's opposition, Montpellier, are rooted at the bottom of the table and are yet to find the net. Combine all of these factors and it's easy to see why Thiago Silva is priced so high.
Our bonus recommendation is Lille's fullback
Adama Soumaoro (6.4m). Their first choice right back, Sebastien Corchia, misses out through injury and Soumaoro will fill the void. The 23-year-old featured from the bench vs. Monaco and impressed with a
Mondogoal score of 8.17pts. If you want some Lille coverage Soumaoro is our number 1 pick, despite his paltry price tag.
Attacking Potential
Similar to the Clean Sheet Potential, the bookies are largely backing the same sides; Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon and Marseille to score the goals. Giving attention to these predictions our
Mondogoal Tips will be loosely based around these teams.
Midfielder Tips
Our go-to Paris Saint-Germain midfielder is Marco Veratti, but he will miss out with a hip contusion, so we have elected
Lucas Moura (10.6m) as our pick from the Ligue 1 Champions. Laurent Blanc has finally given the pacey winger the opportunity to improve his confidence with a run of games. We have our fingers crossed that he can hold onto his place in the team with the emergence of the rather irritating Angel Di Maria. Lucas has exploded onto the scene this season with a couple of exciting performances. It's through his man-of-the-match display vs. Lille and his pivotal contribution vs. Ajaccio that has earned his place in our tips.
Lyon will be eager to get their fans on their feet and back on their side with a much-improved performance vs. Rennes. Substitute
Claudio Beauvue (14.5m) turned the game on its head last week with the solitary goal of the match and we are putting our trust in the volatile winger. However, Beauvue has not been picked purely on a form basis, we feel that, as Rennes play with a back 3, Lyon can punish them out wide. Beauvue is at his best when running at players and he will pick up plenty of 'fouls won' points on
Mondogoal.
Are you searching for a bargain midfielder to complete or fill out your squad? We recommend
Gilles Sunu (6.7m). Angers players returned to Ligue 1 with their chests out and an unwavering belief that they can and will compete. They have started superbly; currently sitting in the top 4 and Sunu has played a central role, both in influence and formation. The latter is why the striker appeals to us for
Mondogoal, as they have him categorised as a ‘Midfielder'. If you need a differential, Sunu is our call.
Forward Tips
There are some familiar faces in our frontline recommendations.
First up is
Alexandre Lacazette (11.6m). Last seasons top scorer in Ligue 1 and a template pick for the majority of
Mondogoal managers. Oh, how things have changed… This season the French international has, without doubt, been the most frustrating forward with a score of 5.93pts in GW1, followed by an even worse 2.09pts in GW2. Nevertheless, we will back the forward once again on Saturday. It is only a matter of time before he regains his composure in front of goal and we don't want to be the ones sitting, red-faced, at the bottom of our
Mondogoal tables who chose to ignore him. His 42 goals in 66 appearances over 2 seasons have not come by chance; let's just hope that Gameweek 3 is his take-off week.
Our bargain buy and another familiar face in our tips is
Valere Germain (4.7m) of OGC Nice. His teammate Alassane Plea deservedly received the plaudits last weekend with a score of 21pts on
Mondogoal. However, he could not have achieved this feat without Germain's clever link up play. The creative centre forward is a nailed on starter and is relied upon heavily to make things happen up top. OGC Nice line-up with a classic little and large partnership in which Germain plays off and around Plea, often drifting into dangerous pockets in between the opposition's defence and midfield. We are predicting Nice to create the majority of chances vs. Caen and Germain has always been the nucleus of their attacks, 1 goal and 1 assist, since his switch from Monaco.
To complete our trio of forward tips, we have gone for
Edinson Cavani (8.5m). The tenacious striker is likely to be one of the highest owned players during this game week, due to Ibrahimovic's absence. Despite the 28-year-old ending the 2014/15 campaign with 10 goals in his last 7 fixtures, Cavani is still probing for his first Ligue 1 goal of the season after 180mins of action. Paris Saint-Germain are destined to find the net at least once vs. Montpellier, so Cavani who will spearhead their attack is an obvious choice.
