Ligue 1 Preview, Week 37: Lille All But Champions, But There’s Still A Lot To Play For

It’s full slate this weekend, with all 10 games taking place on Saturday. Lille’s 1-0 win over Sochaux on Wednesday made the competition for the Ligue 1 championship a foregone conclusion, and all Lille require to make it official is a point. There’s still much to be decided though, with the Champions League race and relegation battle both still extremely tight.

AJ Auxerre vs. Brest

Time: 21:00 CET/3:00 PM EDT

This teams are both still mathematically in relegation trouble, but the danger to Auxerre is almost nonexistent while the danger to Brest is just a tick above. Neither team will be viewing things that way of course, because athletes thing everything they do is important. Egotistical jerks.

Pick: Auxerre, 1-0

Lens vs. Arles

Time: 21:00 CET/3:00 PM EDT

Both of these teams are totally screwed, which means this game should be amazing.

Pick: Arles, 4-3

Lyon vs. Caen

Time: 21:00 CET/3:00 PM EDT

After PSG somehow managed to lose a game to a Bordeaux team that make the global economy look stable, the final Champions League spot is Lyon’s to lose. It’s cute that Caen seem to think they’re good now and everything, but Lyon’s standing should be safe for at least another week.

Pick: Lyon, 3-1

Marseille vs. Valenciennes

Time: 21:00 CET/3:00 PM EDT

Marseille’s only chance at winning the league is on goal difference, and at this point Lille have 31-23 edge in that department. I expect nothing less than five strikers on the pitch at once.

Pick: Marseille, 2-0

Montpellier vs. AS Monaco

Time: 21:00 CET/3:00 PM EDT

As it stands, Monaco are in a relegation spot despite having a goal difference of only -3 and having scored five more times than 16th place Nice. If there’s any justice in the world, Monaco will pull off the upset in this one.

Pick: Montpellier, 2-1

Nice vs. Lorient

Time: 21:00 CET/3:00 PM EDT

Nice are in a perilous position, safe for now but just two points ahead of Monaco. They’ve been excellent at home (at least in comparison to how they’ve done on the road) and Lorient’s only seem capable of winning games against teams better than them. Uh-oh, Monaco.

Pick: Nice, 3-2

PSG vs. Lille

Time: 21:00 CET/3:00 PM EDT

Lille don’t really have anything to play for and PSG just dropped a game to Bordeaux. Normally would be reason to think PSG might be ‘refocused’ or somesuch, but I think losing to Bordeaux at this point in time means you no longer get the benefit of the doubt.

Pick: Lille, 3-1

Sochaux vs. St. Etienne

Time: 21:00 CET/3:00 PM EDT

If it weren’t for Lille winning the double, Sochaux would be the Ligue 1 story of the year. Nice job, Lille. Spotlight stealing jerkfaces.

Pick: Sochaux, 4-2

Stades Rennes vs. Nancy

Time: 21:00 CET/3:00 PM EDT

Stades Rennes are the tails to Monaco’s heads. Don’t score many, don’t let many in, kind of boring. Monaco are probably going to be in Ligue 2 next year and Stades Rennes have a shot at Europe. That’s really depressing, if you think about it enough. I wonder if Monaco are having an existential crisis. I totally would be. Maybe that explains why they’re in relegation trouble. And now they have to hope for Stades Rennes to win. Jeeze. That’s like setting the guy who stole your winning lottery ticket up on a date with a girl you’ve had a crush on for years.

Pick: Stades Rennes, 1-0

Toulouse vs. Bordeaux

Time: 21:00 CET/3:00 PM EDT

Well this is certainly a game a lot of people care about.

Pick: Toulouse, 2-1