Welcome back to our Fantasy Ligue 1 Tips.
Gameweek 8 brought about many upsets; Angers defeated Marseille on the road, Bordeaux recovered from their 5-nil hammering the week before to overhaul Lyon and Montpellier were victorious against in-form Lorient to lift themselves off the bottom of the table. Not to mention 4 red cards, another Ben Arfa master class and yet more misery for Lyon.
Now a quarter of the way through the season and with more games just around the corner, we focus our attention on Gameweek 9. More enticing fixtures await and with our partners
Mondogoal providing fantastic competitions, it's time to get down to business. Here are the fixtures and our recommendations.
Saturday 3rd October
Lyon vs. Reims
Angers vs. SC Bastia
GFC Ajaccio vs. Toulouse
Nice vs. Nantes
Troyes vs. Guingamp
Sunday 4th October
Monaco vs. Rennes
Caen vs. Saint-Etienne
Lorient vs. Bordeaux
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Marseille
Cleansheet Potential
A quick glance at the bookies odds and it's clear to see that Paris Saint-Germain are again the clear favourites to secure a cleansheet. Other clubs they advise paying attention to are Lyon and Monaco. The pair have performed below par this term, but with home advantage, they still offer strong possibilities.
Goalkeeper Tips
Paris Saint-Germain's
Kevin Trapp (8.6m) will be the most popular choice between the sticks and it's not hard to tell why, with 6 cleansheets in 8 appearances this season. PSG dominated Shakhtar in their midweek Champions League fixture and are capable of dictating the play in equal measure vs. Marseille. The visitors are having a barren run; without a win in their last 4 matches and losing out to Czech Republic minnows Liberec on Thursday. The future's looking bleak for Marseille, which is why Trapp is a solid pick on
Mondogoal.
The second keeper we feel has a high chance of a cleansheet this weekend is
Danijel Subasic (6.8m). The Monaco stopper has generally been the premium goalkeeper option since
Mondogoal began covering Ligue 1, but due to his side's unpredictable form this season, the Croatian is available at a drop down price. Monaco's 'meanest defence in France' identity may have taken a hit this year, but with 3 consecutive home matches coming up, they will aim to reclaim this label. Their opposition, Rennes, are punching above their weight at the moment, currently sitting in 3rd place. Nonetheless with 3 draws in succession and struggling to muster up scoring chances, this could be the fixture in which they are finally pinned back.
Defender Tips
PSG's busy European schedule and luxurious squad depth repeatedly make it difficult to predict their line-up; causing meltdown on
Mondogoal. However, there is one player Laurent Blanc is almost certain to select vs. Marseille and that is
Layvin Kurzawa (10.1m). The Frenchman was left out of the Starting XI midweek; therefore he is fresh and in-line to replace Maxwell on Sunday. In preparation for his move to PSG, Kurzawa won the Man of the Match award 3 times in the same number of appearances. The left back is not the main man anymore but continues to impress. The 23-year-olds go-getting approach absolutely suits
Mondogoal's scoring system; per game Kurzawa makes 4 tackles and 3.7 interceptions on average. Only 3 players, in the last 3 Ligue 1 seasons, have averaged more interceptions per game than Kurzawa. People are frequently overheard in England raving about Jordan Amavi's ability… when in truth, Kurzawa is just the Rolls-Royce version of the Villa man.
If you are considering sticking your neck out and doubling up with Subasic for a Monaco block, then
Fabio Coentrao (6.7m) fits the bill. Since joining on loan from Real Madrid, the fullback has rediscovered his spark that earned him the move to the Spanish giants in the first place. The Portuguese International has scored 10pts on
Mondogoal in his last two outings without even managing a cleansheet. This highlights his ‘high floor' attacking potential and if Monaco can shut out Rennes, then a big score on
Mondogoal is awaiting. Coentrao racked up 26 assists during his time with Benfica and Real Madrid, so that's an additional skill in his armoury. One negative to note is that the aggressive left back is prone to a card… however 1 yellow in 5 matches for Monaco so far is respectable by his standards.
So far we have based our defence around PSG and Monaco, but if you have been searching far and wide for a differential… then your time has come. Ajaccio have lost 6 of their last 7 Ligue 1 fixtures, scoring 2 goals throughout the whole campaign, so taking this into account we are backing Toulouse midfielder
Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro (6.8m). He is currently classed as a ‘defender' on
Mondogoal, so should provide a bonus alternative to the norm. Yes, the Ivorian International does have an awesome name, but he also has the ability to match. From a defensive perspective, Akpa-Akpro has made more tackles per game (5.6) on average than any Ligue 1 player this season while committing just 1.4 fouls per game. From an attacking perspective, he attempts 1.8 dribbles and wins 1.6 fouls per game on average. All of these exploits packed into an ‘out of position' player, versus a side bottom of the table and Akpa-Akpro appears first-class material for
Mondogoal.
To round off our defensive recommendations, we strongly advise delving into the Nice back-line to get your hands on
Ricardo Pereira (5.1m). The Portuguese U21's striker has managed to grab 3 assists in as many games last month and will aim to keep this trend going vs. Nantes. We were not mistaken when we said he is a striker, however, Nice manager, Claude Puel has molded Pereira into an attacking left-back, which is the reason behind his 'Defender' classification on
Mondogoal. This is an opportunity to select a defender, who provides a similar offensive output as a midfielder; 2.3 key passes and 2 fouls won per game on average backs this up. Pereira will also bag the full 4 points for a cleansheet and when playing Nantes, who have scored just 4 goals all season (never more than a single goal at once), it does look on the cards. It's a no-brainer in our eyes; a fantastic
Mondogoal differential, a strong fixture and most of all an absolute steal at that price.
Attacking Potential
Similar to the Cleansheet Potential PSG are the favourites to score big in Gameweek 9, followed closely by Monaco, Lyon and Nice. We will concentrate our recommendations around these findings, as well as including some bargain buys and differential.
Midfielder Tips
It's difficult to overlook PSG with over 2.5 goals in 10 of their last 11 matches in Ligue 1 and 3 goals plus in their previous 3 fixtures in all competitions. Another player who had to settle for a place on the bench midweek was
Javier Pastore (12.1m). The Argentine has been in tremendous form, as of late, with 3 assists, 1 goal and a Man of the Match award in just 255 minutes of play. The lanky midfielder's slaloming runs and deft touches have won the hearts of the PSG fans, with Pastore now regarded a pivotal player in the Champions' defence of their title. Instead of becoming isolated on the wing, which happened frequently in the past, the 26-year-old is now demanding the ball; similar to Marco Veratti. The attacking midfielder's well-rounded skill set is what makes him appealing for
Mondogoal, Laurent Blanc has discovered that Pastore comes to life when he is given freedom to roam, find pockets of space and then exploit them.
One of the most vital things when playing Fantasy Football is to find players who are in a purple patch… as they say ‘It's all about the confidence.' This is exactly what
Hatem Ben Arfa (7.1m) brings to the table. The controversial figure is alongside Edinson Cavani, as the joint top scorer in Ligue 1 this season, with 6 goals to his name and has completed more successful dribbles than any other player in Europe's top 5 leagues. However, it is the Frenchman's recent form that truly resembles Fantasy Gold with 4 goals in his previous 161 minutes of action, which in turn has seen Ben Arfa record back-to-back 20+ point totals on
Mondogoal. Nice have scored the most goals in Ligue 1 this campaign (20) – which is no less than 16 more than their opposition Nantes, so placing your faith in one of their midfielders is a dependable decision.
Lyon were unlucky to come out second best vs. Valencia on Tuesday having pushed the Spanish side all the way with 21 shots compared to the victors 6. The big news during the build-up was centred on 19-year-old Aldo Kalulu. The striker was preferred over
Claudio Beauvue (13m) to start the match, but he failed to cope with the pressure and disappointed on the whole. Beauvue is set to return on the forefront and will be driven by motivation to prove his manager was wrong. Like Monaco, Lyon's stature has been tainted after a terrible run of form. Despite winning just 2 of their last 6 fixtures in all competitions, we still instruct you to back ‘The Kids' on home soil. They are undefeated in 19 of their last 21 home matches and have scored at least 2 goals during their last 4 meetings with Reims. The visitors are in rich form; nevertheless we think Beauvue will be a thorn in their side. The 27-year-old will pick up consistent shots on target points on
Mondogoal (2.8 shots per game on average) and is a master at tempting the foul.
Forward Tips
First off is the same old debate…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (16.1m) or
Edinson Cavani (10.7m)? It is almost impossible to predict which player will start or maybe both. We do predict Cavani to be the most likely starter this time out due to The Argentine having played 105 minutes to Ibrahimovic's 180 minutes over the past 2 matches. So, in theory, he will start… but who knows Laurent Blanc could well select both. The unfortunate thing for
Mondogoal managers is that PSG always seem to be the late kick-off, meaning the line-up is not confirmed and you are left pulling your hair out when your player, who is perhaps your most expensive, doesn't even start. It is not the end of the world though because both players have such an in-your-face and explosive style that they will outscore most forwards even as a substitute.
Our second pick is Monaco's
Stephan El Shaarawy (5.7m). After coming off the bench to score the equaliser vs. Tottenham in midweek, he should be included in the Starting XI for Sunday. This truly was a hunch of ours, nevertheless he is the type of player that when given license can blow up a huge score on
Mondogoal. Yes, the Italian can be downright awful one week and then score a hat trick the next but remember El Shaarawy scored 16 goals for AC Milan a couple of years ago. There's no doubt that he's got the aptitude, it's just a matter of giving him the belief and, of course, the assistance to show his true colours. Scoring in the Europa League will have given him a positive boost, so if you want to take a gamble on your
Mondogoal side, there is no better opportunity for El Shaarawy than now.
To complete our
Mondogoal tips for the weekend's action, it is another familiar face… this time
Valerie Germain (6.7m). If you have read through our previous Ligue 1 articles, then you will know that we rate the Nice forward very highly. Since Germain joined up with Nice on a season-long loan, with an option to make it permanent, his parent club Monaco have been crying out for a forward of his nature. Someone who sniffs around the box searching for scraps, is comfortable on the ball and links up play terrifically. The slight forward has struck up a devastating partnership with our fellow recommendation Hatem Ben Arfa and they seem unstoppable at the moment. Germain has a points per game average of 9.36 on
Mondogoal, has scored 4 goals and assisted 2 this season, but still whenever we include him on our tips; he blanks. So fingers crossed he breaks this fashion in Gameweek 9. Onwards and upwards we say and good luck in your quest for glory on
Mondogoal.