Ligue 1 Tips: Make Lyon and Marseille your big weekend winners | OneFootball

French Ligue 1

Marseille should be far too strong in midfield for Le Havre this weekend

After three winners from his final three selections of last year, James Eastham reveals the smart plays on the opening weekend of French action of 2025...

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Betfair's Saturday Superboost!

Tottenham v Newcastle should be a lively way to get the first Saturday of 2025 underway in the Premier League and Betfair have come up with an appealing Superboost for the 12:30 kick-off.

Alexander Isak scored 25 Premier League goals for Newcastle in 2024 while Anthony Gordon has been directly involved in a goal in each of his last four Premier League appearances for the Magpies.

The pair will enjoy playing against a Tottenham side that leave plenty of gaps at the back.

Lyon vs Montpellier - Sat, 20:00

Lyon are our strong selection to win and potentially win big this weekend.

Pierre Sage's hosts are second to only PSG in the Ligue 1 five- and 10-game form tables. And, as mentioned on other occasions in this column this season, the depth of attacking talent Sage has at his disposal means that Lyon are always capable of winning by big margins.

One of Alexandre Lacazette and Georges Mikautadze will start while the other will be itching to come off the bench, meaning Lyon will have a central goals threat throughout the 90 minutes.

There is a similar situation on the flanks: Rayan Cherki, Malick Fofana and Said Benrahma are vying for two starting positions, meaning that, if the two players selected to start the game don't get you, there is always a chance that whoever appears off the bench will cause some damage against tiring legs.

Montpellier are bottom in Ligue 1 having lost 10 of their opening 15 games of the season. They suffered a humiliating French Cup exit shortly before Christmas when they lost 4-0 away to amateurs Le Puy in the round of 64.

As well as the embarrassment of losing, the game was marred by an argument between one of the Montpellier players as he lined-up to take a corner and some of the nearby Montpellier fans that had made the trip for the game. The incident - for which the player has since apologised - summed up just how helpless the situation feels for the club at the moment.

Lyon are 1.38 to win. For bigger odds on the hosts, we recommend backing them with a -1.5 Asian Handicap start. With this selection, you will make a profit if Lyon win by two or more goals, something they have done on four of the seven occasions where they have won a game this season.

The relevant stats on Montpellier are even more striking: seven of Montpellier's 10 Ligue 1 defeats have been by two or more goals.

Marseille vs Le Havre - Sun, 19:45

This game looks like a total mismatch. Anything than a comfortable Marseille win would be a case of underachievement from the hosts.

Marseille's home record is a concern - they are only W2-D3-L2 at Stade Velodrome this season - but if ever there was a game where they stand an excellent chance of winning big, this would be it.

Le Havre are second from bottom of the Ligue 1 table, but by our reckoning, are the division's weakest team. Not a single Le Havre player would get into Marseille's starting line-up and few, if any, would make the bench.

Le Havre ended 2024 with four straight defeats in all competitions, including a humiliating French Cup exit away to fourth-division part-timers Stade Briochin (1-0) on December 21. Manager Didier Digard - in his first permanent post - is under massive pressure, and a heavy defeat here may make his position untenable.

Marseille have floundered at home but manager Roberto De Zerbi will see this as a tremendous opportunity to start 2025 in more impressive fashion. With quality performers in many positions - goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, and midfielders Pierre-Emile Hjobjerg, Adrien Rabiot and Valentin Rongier have been stand-out performers over the past three months - the hosts should cruise to victory.

Recommended bets

Back Lyon -1.5 Asian Handicap vs Montpellier @ 1.95Back Marseille -1.5 Asian Handicap vs Le Havre @ 1.9

James' final 2024 Ligue 1 P/L

Staked: 76ptsReturned: +91.85ptsP/L: +15.85pts (+20.9% ROI)