St Etienne -0.5 AH @ 1.98 Pinnacle 4/10
Once again, Metz proved themselves to be a bit of a nuisance last week when they managed to hold Auxerre to a 0-0 draw away from home. Throughout the last 2 or 3 months, Yvon Pouliquen’s side have caused some problems to teams fighting against relegation, although they haven’t fared so well against higher ranked clubs. St Etienne come here still in 5th position, but they have other sides such as Lille really breathing heavily down their necks and need to make sure they keep winning matches. Next week, they of course do face a key clash at home to their rivals, but for now, ‘Les Verts’ will be eyeing a comfortable 3 points at Le Stade Saint Symphorian. Metz aren’t going to let their heads drop at the end of this season and the coach still demands that his players give plenty of effort, but in terms of quality, St Etienne are far stronger here. They have the ideal attack force to cause problems to this leaky Metz defence and should be able to create numerous chances. This game will probably be a very exciting encounter and contain a few goals in it, but ultimately the visitors should be able to outscore their opponents. Laurent Roussay’s men know that obtaining anything less than 3 points wouldn’t be acceptable, and know what must be done in order to maintain their 5th position in the table.
Rennes -0.75 AH @ 2.0 188bet 6/10
Rennes, who are in the hunt for 5th position in the table must surely fancy their chances of beating woeful Strasbourg. The visitors travel to Brittany in the middle of a dreadful 7 match losing streak which has left them firmly rooted inside the relegation zone. At this crucial stage of the campaign, Jean Marc Furlan’s side have severely cracked and haven’t been able to handle the pressure of the situation. They have to win very quickly, but with 3 of their remaining 4 matches away from home, its difficult to see them surviving. The team just cant score goals anymore and they’ve gone through a really barren spell recently. This was something that was highlighted at the start of the season, the only surprise is that it took so long for this weakness to be apparent. Rennes have been in good form recently and are now chasing the final European position. Les Rouges et Noir have won 4 of their last 5 games in front of their own fans and it’d be a surprised if they failed to beat their opponents this weekend. They should put another nail into Strasbourg’s coffin and collect victory.
Sochaux -0.5 AH @ 1.93 Pinnacle 4/10
Sochaux’s excellent unbeaten run of 9 games came to an end last week as they lost 2-3 away in Lens. It was a bit of an unfortunate defeat and Sochaux played some pretty decent football in the match, but luck wasn’t always on their side. Suffering this loss would’ve been a blow, but the club are in a much stronger position than it was a few months ago when relegation looked very likely. Francois Gillot’s men are now 7 points clear of the danger area and need just 1 more win to absolutely confirm their survival. With 3 of their 4 remaining games on home turf, they should be able to achieve this, and the players will surely want to do it at the earliest possible opportunity. This weekends match against Lorient looks set be a good chance, but they will have to be very careful of their often unpredictable opponents. ‘Les Merlus’ come here on the back of a tight defeat to St Etienne (0-1) in a match which could’ve easily ended all square. The motivational levels of Lorient are hard to understand at the moment, they have little left to play for, but are sometimes fighting quite hard to get results. In general though, the visitors possess a weak attack force and could struggle to score goals. I think Sochaux will probably obtain victory here and be able to confirm their top flight status for another season.