We have eight Coupe de la Ligue (trophy pictured) games this midweek and I sent subscribers a statistical look at how we might expect these (in general terms) to play out, along with previews of today's two matches, the other six ties are scheduled for tomorrow. The stats are below and are a good starting point for looking at the fixtures.....

Monaco got what they needed in midweek and more, with their defeat of Zenit earning them the #1 spot in their group and now they have a lot to look forward to in 2015. Ahead of that game I spoke about their approach and problems......

The situation is clear cut here, if Sochaux win and only win, they are safe and Evian will be relegated, any other result will see the visitors preserve their top flight status.

Valenciennes did us several favours leading up to their disastrous home defeat to Ajaccio at the end of last month, that stalled their momentum and made their survival bid all the more difficult. Before that game my notes read....
 

I do not pretend to win every day, or week, that would just be ridiculous and as I have told you many times, the only 100% sure thing and there is not much you can say that about in gambling, is that I will bet 600 + losers in 2014. What is almost as certain, is that the clubgowi newsletter service will make readers who follow it long term and bet all red type selections, somewhere between 100 and 300 times their unit stake over the 12 months. That is not "guaranteed", you will never hear me say that, but it is far and away the most likely thing to happen.

This game should be interesting. Nice have a poor record here in Rennes and had not posted a win in over a decade before winning 3-0 last season, that was their glory season, a fourth placed finish out of nowhere and now normal service has been resumed, they are against in lower midtable, which in terms of budget and size, is perfectly acceptable and back to their usual struggles on the road, with a 1-1-7 record away from home with just three goals scored.