Nantes v Lille

Nantes play their first home Ligue 1 match of the season against Lille, but historically this has been a dreadful matchup for them. The home side have not won any of their last 14 against Lille, losing 11 of these matches, including a 1-0 reverse at Stade de la Beaujoire in March.

Antoine Kombouare’s side do not look likely to end that sequence on Friday. Although they boast a strong squad of players, they have shown little in their two competitive games that suggests they are ready to get a win. In the Trophee des Champions, they were thumped 4-0 by PSG and last weekend they were held to a 0-0 draw against an Angers side that is expected to battle relegation this season.

Offensively, Nantes look short, as their inability to score in their first two matches of the season reflects. Worse, their key attacker, Ludovic Blas, is the subject of interest from Lille. Kombouare has suggested he will play this match, but his commitment will be questionable.

Conversely, Lille started the season in spectacular fashion with a 4-1 win over Auxerre at home. Two goals in the first three minutes paved the way to an easy win, with forward Jonathan David looking particularly sharp early in the season, scoring two and setting up one. It was a hugely encouraging start under new boss Paulo Fonseca.

With almost a full squad available, look for Lille to continue their strong start to the season.

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Monaco v Rennes

Look for goals when Monaco play host to Rennes on Saturday afternoon. This is a fixture with a long history of producing high-scoring encounters. All of the last seven league meetings between these sides dating back to 2018 have produced at least three goals in 90 minutes, while all of the last 11 in all competitions have seen both find the net.

These are clubs with long histories of attacking football, and that is likely to continue at the weekend, when Monaco will seek to bounce back from a dispiriting Champions League exit at the hands of PSV. They were 2-1 up and heading through until they conceded in the 89th minute and they went on to lose in extra time.

All of Monaco’s three matches this season have seen both teams score, while they managed a strong xG of 2.9 against Strasbourg in a fine 2-1 win last weekend.

Rennes, meanwhile, surprisingly lost 1-0 at home to Lorient but were the dominant side. It was a rare off day for an attack that was the second best in Ligue 1 last season and has gone untouched over the summer months. It would be a shock if they did not respond in this game, particularly as they will have all of their means open to them.

Monaco may choose to rotate in this game, as they did in Strasbourg, and while their unpredictable team selection makes an outcome difficult to predict, there is a strong likelihood there will be plenty of goals.

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PSG v Montpellier

PSG looked ominously good last weekend as they dismantled Clermont 5-0 away from home, with Lionel Messi grabbing a double and Neymar also looking back to his best. After beating Nantes 4-0 in Israel in the Trophee des Champions, the Parisians will play their opening match at Parc des Princes, which will want to greet new head coach Christophe Galtier with a win.

PSG’s domination in their rivalry with Montpellier is emphatic. They have won eight of their last nine league matches against La Paillade – and each of these victories has been achieved by at least two goals. Their record against them at Parc des Princes is even more lopsided. Last season’s 2-0 victory ended a run of four successive games in which they had won by at least four goals.

This time around, PSG look as strong as ever, while Montpellier look worryingly feeble defensively. While the guests beat Troyes 3-2 last weekend to kick their season off on a positive note, they have been woeful at the back all summer. In their final two friendlies of the summer, they lost 4-2 to Crystal Palace and 5-4 to Toulouse. Indeed, they have conceded at least twice in all of their last five matches against opponents weaker than PSG.

Kylian Mbappe is back for the hosts, and while there is some doubt over how many minutes he will get, with or without the World Cup winner, it’s hard to see anything but another one-sided success in this game.

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