For the 19th and last day of the year, Ligue 1 offers itself a multiplex with all the matches scheduled for 9 p.m. this Wednesday. Autumn champion for two weeks and a solid leader, Paris Saint-Germain is preparing to make a peaceful trip to Lorient.
On the other hand, the fight for the podium will rage among four clubs located in a pocket handkerchief: Marseille, Nice, Rennes and Montpellier, and which can all settle in second or third place before the holidays. For Montpellier, it means a big victory against Angers. The Héraultais are lagging behind when it comes to the goal difference. We will also have to hope for a misstep on the side of Rennes and Nice.
Olympique de Marseille, for its part, is in a very favorable position. The reception in Reims is an opportunity to end the year on a high note in front of more than 50,000 spectators expected at the Vélodrome.
It will be more complicated for Rennes and Nice. The Bretons move to Monaco (8th, 26 points). The Azureans receive Lens (6th, 27 points). Nice remain on a three-game losing streak at home, while the Northerners have gone five games without a win.
Lyon is looking for a clearing
It has been eight years since Lyon had not scored so few points after their first 17 matches in Ligue 1. With 23 units, as in the 2013-2014 edition, OL are at their worst, in 13th place of the rank. Despite a pending match, the one against OM interrupted in the first minutes after a bottle throw that hit Dimitri Payet, Lyon is far from being in the rhythm of a qualification for the Champions League.
The Rhône club is above all in the eye of the storm on the security issue: after the excesses of OL-OM, which earned it a penalty point, its supporters were involved in incidents at the Charléty stadium on Friday in the Coupe de France, during the 32nd against Paris FC, a meeting also interrupted before its end. OL therefore no longer have a choice before the truce: against Metz, 18th in the standings, Peter Bosz’s men must start again and win their first success of the month of December in the Championship.
Rescue mission for Dupraz among the Greens
With the neighbors of Saint-Etienne, the time is not at all to party either. 19th in Ligue 1, ASSE comes a worrying season and hopes a lot from Pascal Dupraz, his new coach. Facing Nantes, the coach rediscovers the elite, which he has not attended since leaving Toulouse in January 2018.
At 59 years old and after a mixed visit to Caen (L2), the “firefighter” Dupraz launched his mission well by obtaining the qualification for the round of 16 of the Coupe de France against Lyon-La Duchère (1-0) and must now confirm in the Championship, where the Greens have won only two matches this season.