Our
Gameweek 5 Tips fared reasonably well with some unexpected score lines on show.
Paris Saint-Germain slipped up for the first time this season, after going in front twice, two horrendous errors from, our pick, Kevin Trapp allowed Bordeaux to rescue a point. The German keeper has been faultless for PSG, until this match, so we expect Laurent Blanc to stick by him and after his comments we believe that this is the case. The positive note from this match was that Edinson Cavani continued to showcase his ruthlessness with his third successive score of 10pts+ on
Mondogoal. New boy, Angel Di Maria also managed a respectable 7.90pts on his Ligue 1 debut and Mr. Consistent, Marco Veratti recorded 9.05pts.
As we predicted Monaco secured a cleansheet in a cagey, single goal encounter, with Ajaccio. Subasic was forced into some saves and earned 11.8pts, Bernardo Silva racked up the points in open play and, with 3 shots on target, finished the match with 13.3pts. Our final Monaco pick was Guido Carrillo, the physical striker failed to deliver and ended the match with a disappointing 5.49pts on
Mondogoal.
Our two Lyon candidates Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Claudio Beauvue provided mixed results. The former notched an excellent 10.8pts, through tackles won (5) and cleansheet points. We said that this fixture would lack goals and the no-score draw was no surprise. This did, however, hamper our midfield pick of Beauvue as he was left frustrated and substituted on the 71st minute.
Here's a quick recap of how our
Mondogoal Tips fared in Gameweek 5.
GOALKEEPER
Danijel Subasic- 11.8pts
Kevin Trapp- -1.2pts
DEFENDERS
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa- 10.8pts
Lamine Gassama- 9.08pts
Denis Bouanga- 0pts (DNP)
MIDFIELDERS
Bernardo Silva- 13.3pts
Marco Veratti- 9.05pts
Angel Di Maria- 7.90pts
Claudio Beauvue- 6.69pts
FORWARDS
Edinson Cavani- 17.87pts
Guido Carrillo- 5.49pts
Gameweek 6 commences tonight; with yet another chance for you took take home some cash prizes and bragging rights on
Mondogoal, here are the fixtures and our Fantasy Ligue 1 Tips.
Friday 18th September
Rennes vs. Lille
Saturday 19th September
Reims vs. Paris Saint-Germain
Angers vs. Troyes
SC Bastia vs. Nice
Caen vs. Montpellier
Guingamp vs. GFC Ajaccio
Sunday 19th September
Bordeaux vs. Toulouse
Monaco vs. Lorient
Saint-Etienne vs. Nantes
Marseille vs. Lyon
Cleansheet Potential
Looking at the bookies odds the clear favourites to pick up a cleansheet are PSG. Closely following the Champions are Guingamp and Saint-Etienne. We have based our recommendations on two of these sides, as well as Monaco, who we feel are worthy of a notable mention. Saint-Etienne are a tempting side to back when at home, but they have gone 3 matches without a Cleansheet, so our advice is to steer clear of them.
Goalkeeper Tips
There are plenty of goalkeeping options this weekend for your
Mondogoal side, but the first name that sprang to mind was
Danijel Subasic (9.1m). In Gameweek 5 he scored us 11.8pts and barring Monaco's embarrassing 3-nil loss at the hands of PSG a fortnight ago, the Croatian stopper has conceded just 2 goals this season. As we have mentioned many times before, Monaco are a stubborn, well-drilled side who rarely concede more than a single goal at home. Standing in front of Subasic and a cleansheet are FC Lorient, an opposition who have struggled to find the net this term away from home. Lorient have only managed one goal on the road this season, therefore the inclusion of Subasic seems a safe bet.
Our backup keeper is
Jonas Lossl (7.9m). There is a first for everything and this is the first time we have recommended a Guingamp player for Mondogoal. No offence to both the player and his club, but this pick is largely down to the attractive fixture. GFCO Ajaccio are, quite unbelievably, still searching for their first goal in Ligue 1 and the sad thing is, it doesn't look like appearing anytime soon. Cheaply priced and odds-on to secure his third cleansheet in succession, Jonas Lossl could prove a smart differential for your
Mondogoal side.
Defender Tips
Although the majority of PSG players may feel slightly fatigued following their Champions League encounter with Malmo on Wednesday, one player who did not feature in the win was
Layvin Kurzawa (9.7m). The left-back enters Gameweek 6 fresh and will be aiming to gain his first start for his new club. His competition, Maxwell, was fielded in the midweek starting XI so, by theory, Laurent Blanc will hand Kurzawa the responsibility this Saturday. The French international will be raring to go and hopefully he can showcase the attacking talents, for which he was loved so much, at Monaco. Kuzawa scores an average of 8.29pts per game on
Mondogoal and he will now get even more opportunity to bomb forward at Paris Saint-German.
You may have noticed that we like to double up our goalkeeper with a defender from the same team - this week we advise combining Lossl with
Reynald Lemaitre (6.9m) of Guingamp. The left-back has a vast amount of experience of playing in Ligue 1, with 113 appearances under his belt. The 32-year-old provides the majority of his
Mondogoal points through defensive exploits, however, he is fully capable of playing a part in offensive moves. Lemaitre's strongest attribute in
Mondogoal is his aptitude to win tackles without committing fouls - 4 tackles won and just 0.5 conceded per game on average this season.
To round off our defensive line-up is Monaco's
Fabio Coentrao (6.3m), currently on loan from Real Madrid. The 27-year-old was fantastic during Monaco's 1-1 stalemate with Anderlecht on Thursday and, despite having only 2 days rest, Leonardo Jardim is expected to select Coentrao in his starting XI. Against Anderlecht, the Portuguese International was fielded on the left wing, which creates a rare opening when you may be able to select a
Mondogoal ‘Defender', who is actually situated in an advanced midfield role. This often means that tackle, interception and fouls won points will be more readily available, due to more involvement. However, if Monaco hold onto a cleansheet, instead of the usual 2 points collected for a midfielder, Coentrao will receive the full 4 points as a defender. Nevertheless, even if pulled back into the left back position, he provides a potent attacking output, making 4 key passes, completing 2 dribbles and winning 3 fouls on his Monaco debut.
Attacking Potential
Going by the bookies odds the teams that are most likely to find the net in this round of fixtures are Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and Saint-Etienne. Other sides to keep in mind for this week are Bordeaux and, in particular, Guingamp. The latter are in great form at the moment, with 3 goals in their last 2 matches and face Ajaccio who are planted at the bottom of the table.
Midfielder Tips
PSG were given a real scare in Gameweek 5 when Bordeaux came back from behind twice to record a 2-2 stalemate against the Champions. PSG were expected to dominate in the centre of the park through the short passing trio of Veratti, Motta & Matuidi, however,
Whabi Kharzi (11.9m) certainly proved a spanner in the works. The Algerian worked tirelessly, making 4 tackles, completing 4 dribbles and finishing the match with a goal and assist. Kharzi's playing style suits
Mondogoal's scoring system perfectly, his role reminds us of Dimitri Payet's for West Ham in that he is relied upon heavily to create and make things happen. Bordeaux attempt to give Kharzi the ball at every opportunity, so he picks up plenty of open play points and has a high floor in
Mondogoal. The 24-year-old has made more key passes per game (3.8) than any other player in Ligue 1 this season and is ranked fourth in dribbles attempted per game (3.3).
We feel that Lille have a very special talent on their hands in
Sofiane Boufal (10.5m). The 22-year-old has stepped up his game big time this season and is now, to the disappointed of many, knocking on the door of the Moroccan national team, despite being French-born. The reason why Boufal is so appealing, in
Mondogoal terms, is his ability to pick up endless 'fouls won' points. The midfielder is the most fouled player in Ligue 1 this season hacked down 3.8 times per game on average. Lille face tough opposition as they travel to play 2nd placed Rennes, but we are backing them to turn the screw and grind out the win.
PSG's 3-1 win over Genk saw Man United reject
Angel Di Maria (10.3m) score his first goal for the 2014/15 champions. The lively winger was a threat throughout and after breaking the deadlock early on with a delightful top corner finish, his confidence clearly soared. If Di Maria, often nicknamed '3 lung' due to his work ethic and 'noodle' because of his slight build and agility, can continue this rich form he will frequently score 10+ points on
Mondogoal. Di Maria will start again on the right side of midfield and due to the fact that he uses his right foot purely for standing on, the slight winger will cut in to shoot and whip balls in with his favoured left peg. The Argentine has proved his worth for PSG in Europe, teammate Thiago Silva stating Di Maria is “impossible to stop” and we think Gameweek 6 is his time to deliver on the domestic stage.
During this Gameweek, many of the top clubs have difficult, or potential banana skin fixtures, which is why we look to Guingamp, yet again, for midfield selection.
Nicolas Benezet (5.3m) is our number 1 pick after impressing early on this season. Like Kharzi, he is an attacking midfielder with a low centre of gravity and excellent ball control; ideal for
Mondogoal. Guingamp enter this match on the back of two solid displays and will be pushing the boundaries for their third win on the bounce. Benezet provides incomparable value and, in our opinion, is extremely underestimated - a superb differential and a no-brainer, with his ability and that price.
The midfield roster is full of promise this week, so we recommend utilising either a 4-5-1 or 3-5-2 formation on
Mondogoal. Our final midfielder
Hatem Ben Arfa (6.1m) is definitely a hit or miss player, nevertheless he is beginning to lean more into the hit bracket with 10, 14, 9 and 7 his latest scores on
Mondogoal. The highly debated midfielder shoots on sight (2.8 shots per game on average) and has attempted more dribbles per game (4), than any other player in Ligue 1. Ben Arfa also ranks 7th in Europe for this dribbling stat. Combine this with his knack to win fouls (1.6 per game) and his small price tag, we think the ex-France International deserves a notable mention on our list and consideration for your team.
Forward Tips
The two obvious forward choices for Mondogoal are PSG pair
Edinson Cavani (10m) and
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (16.1m). If you have bulked out your midfield and are short of cash then Cavani is the way to go and with 5 goals in his last 3, his confidence is sky high. On the other hand, if you have the cash to throw around then jumping on the Ibrahimovic bandwagon could be just as much a profitable decision. We predict that the cocky Swede will be highly owned, perhaps featuring in more than 50% of Mondogoal sides so, if you choose to ignore him, you could very likely be left stranded in their wake on
Mondogoal. The third option and a luxury one at that is to include both players. When Paris Saint-Germain play well, they often outscore any other side in Ligue 1 with ease, so if you want to take advantage of this chance, then snatching up both their forwards is a bold formula.
