Ligue 1 Superthread 2018/19

Sunday's early results:

Montpellier 2-4 Reims
Nantes 1-0 Bordeaux
Toulouse 1-1 Caen
Rennes 1-1 Marseille

Incredible result at Montpellier as promoted side Reims leapfrog their opponents into 6th place. Oudin with two goals as he continues his great season. Pallois with a big moment for Nantes to help them win the derby; Marseille stay fifth with their draw at Rennes.

Caen were seconds away from a win and leaving the relegation zone but a Gradel free-kick leaves them 18th. Gradel should be at a stronger club imo.

Teams for Monaco vs Lyon which kicks off at 8pm (live on BT Sport 1):

Monaco XI: Subasic - Sidibe, Glik, B. Badiashile, Ballo-Toure - Adrien Silva, Fabregas - G. Martins, Golovin, Rony Lopes - Falcao.

Lyon XI: Lopes - Dubois, Marcelo, Denayer, Marcal - Ndombele, Tousart, Aouar - Traore, Dembele, Terrier.

That's a good looking Monaco team and Martins is on fire. Good chance of excitement in this one as the last 6 meetings have had an average of four goals per match.

I'll go for a 2-2 draw.

1-0 Monaco. Martins again contributing. Great finish.

2-0 to Monaco at the break. Poor half from Lyon, although they finished it well. Ndombele with a half-decent chance from a header. They look better since Depay has come on. Monaco looking threatening whenever they get into the final third. Lyon so good in defence against Barca but look shaky so far. Next goal all important.

Full-Time and it ends 2-0 to Monaco. Great result for Jardim's side. Perhaps if Depay had scored the pen it might have shifted the momentum somewhat but I don't think Lyon deserved anything from the game.

Golovin and Fabregas performed well and Rony Lopes the standout I'd say. Moves Monaco up to 16th in the table. Lyon were as bad as I've seen them all season. Can't really think of any of their players worthy of praise. Maybe Dembele for working hard off scraps. Big fan of Mendy but he was awful today. Not sure if Ndombele was fully fit but he struggled to have his normal impact. Lyon stay third, 5 points off Lille.

I was watching the highlights show earlier and in the Marseille game with Rennes Valere Germain took a blow to the head that left a big bump.




To my surprise he ended up completing the game. Is it not dangerous to let a player carry on with that kind of swelling when we're supposed to be taking head injuries more seriously these days? Maybe I'm overreacting but I found it odd that he was allowed continue.

PSG unsurprisingly are into the Coupe de France semi-final after beating Dijon 3-0 at the Parc des Princes.

Rennes vs Orleans (5.30pm) and Lyon vs Caen (8pm) taking place tomorrow. Both games live on Eir Sport 2.

Rennes have beaten Orleans 2-0 to reach the Coupe de France semis. A Bourigeaud free-kick and a Niang finish made the difference. Ben Arfa with a nice assist for Niang's goal. Hope to see more of that against Arsenal.

Lyon have named a strong side against Caen for the later cup tie. No Aouar, Fekir, Traore or Dubois starting but other than that pretty much full strength. It would be a big upset if they don't advance as Caen are in very poor form.

Draw for the semi-finals of the Coupe de France was made:

Lyon vs Rennes
PSG vs Vitre or Nantes

Disappointed to see PSG get another home draw.

Lyon vs PSG looking a likely final but could see Rennes causing Lyon problems.

Teams for Lille vs Dijon (2pm k.o. on BT Sport 3):

Lille XI: Maignan; Celik, Gabriel, Jose Fonte, Kone; Xeka, Thiago Mendes; Pepe, Ikone, Luiz Araujo; Leao.

Dijon XI: Allain; Chafik, Yambere, Aguerd, Haddadi; Abeid, Marie; Said, Sliti, Kaba; Tavares.

Dijon will need some magic from Sliti to get anything but it's a big ask. Fancy a solid home win. Hoping for a goal or two from Pepe.

Guingamp and Nantes have played out a goalless draw. Nantes had a pen in the final seconds but Rongier's effort was saved. Result leaves Guingamp bottom but could prove to be a precious point in the long run.

Patrick Vieira's Nice have beaten Strasbourg 1-0 thanks to a goal from Youcef Atal. Nice climb to seventh. Strasbourg's form has dipped badly the last few weeks.

Lille have beaten Dijon 1-0 to go 8 points clear of Lyon in second place. Was a deserved win but they made hard work of it. Vital now for Lyon to beat Toulouse which is coming up next. Teams:

Lyon XI: Lopes; Dubois, Marcelo, Denayer, Mendy; Ndombele, Tousart; Traore, Fekir, Depay; Dembele.

Toulouse XI: Reynet; Amian, Shoji, Jullien, Sylla; Cahuzac, Sangare, Sidibe; Dossevi, Gradel, Jean.

I'd expect Lyon to win but they'll probably make hard work of it. I can see Gradel causing problems. Interested to see how Sangare fares as he's looked good of late.

Just turned over to Marseille vs St Etienne to see Balotelli give the home side the lead with a sweet volley. He then celebrates by taking a phone from a photographer and taking a selfie with his teammates. Love it.

An appetizer this evening before the Champions League games with Ligue 1 action from 6pm on BT Sport ESPN; Bordeaux in 13th host Montpellier in 8th and it's probably a must-win for Montpellier if they want to keep alive their slim hopes of a Champions League place. A loss leaves them 11 points off Lyon. Team news:

Bordeaux XI: Costil; Palencia, Kounde, Pablo, Poundje; Plasil, Otavio; Karamoh, Basic, De Preville; Briand.

Montpellier XI: Lecomte; Suarez, Congre, Hilton, Cozza, Oyongo; Le Tallec, Lasne, Mollet; Laborde, Delort.

Surprised Kamano is only on the bench for the home side. Laborde and Delort are one of the best strike combos in the league. Mollet capable of quality too.

Expecting Montpellier to edge it.

Update: 1-0 Montpellier after 20 minutes. Delort does well to pick out a cross for Lasne who heads home. Bordeaux defence asleep.

1-1: Karamoh does well to set up De Preville whose shot is going wide but takes a big deflection off Basic.

2-1: Congre scores from close range from a corner early into the second half. Bordeaux unconvincing at the back again.

Full-Time: It ends 2-1 to Montpellier. Hard fought win but a deserved one. Hilton solid at the back.

- bo - wrote: »

Job done yesterday and a potential banana skin avoided. PSG away in the last 4... the run was enjoyable while it lasted.

Yeah, I can see Tuchel treating the Cup games very seriously now after the European exit. He's already unable to match Emery's record last season of a domestic treble and if they were to go out of another cup competition there would be even bigger pressure on his position.

Fine result tonight for Ligue 1's 10th-placed side recording a win by a margin of two goals over the Premier League's 5th-placed one. Seen a lot of arrogant and dismissive comments thrown Rennes' way from commentators which I found unkind. Julien Stephan doing a hell of a job with them.

Saturday's results:

Strasbourg 2-2 Lyon
Amiens 2-1 Nimes
Dijon 1-1 Reims
Monaco 1-1 Bordeaux

Not only have Lyon allowed Lille the chance to pull 7 points clear tomorrow in the battle for the automatic Champions League spot but Marcelo went off injured after 17 minutes. Even though he's not been in great form of late his absence against Barca would be a blow.

Struggling Amiens with a great win over Nimes that sees them move one place ahead of Monaco into 16th. Stoke's on loan full-back Erik Pieters with the winning goal for them.

Dijon stay 18th, 6 points off Monaco, but considering they went down to ten men after just 3 minutes, and they were playing Reims who are 6th, I think that has to go down as a great point.

Three interesting live games tomorrow. 5th-place Saint-Etienne at home to 2nd-place Lille from 2pm in a match that's significant for the European places. Rennes, fresh off their win against Arsenal, at home to 19th-place Caen from 4pm with the visitors desperate for some points. Evening game from 8pm is Marseille in 4th at home to Nice in 8th as Mario Balotelli goes up against his former side for the first time. I'm sure he'd love to get one over on Patrick Vieira and vice-versa.

Pepe scores! Finally a breakthrough in what's been a disappointing game. 1-0 Lille with 5 minutes remaining.

Now Debuchy sent off for Saint-Etienne. And Khazri given a straight red. St Etienne finishing the game with 9 men.

It ends 1-0 to Lille. Didn't live up to the expectations this one but a valuable win for Lille.