Ligue 2 betting tip: Beziers - Sochaux
Feb 08, 2019
Ligue 2: Beziers - Sochaux
I previewed Beziers' trip to Lens on Monday and have further highlighted a couple of lines this morning ..........
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Two clubs who have lost their way big time.
Different ambitions of course, Lens are a MASSIVE club, with huge support and a budget which is double all but two Ligue 2 teams , 3-4 times bigger than most, six times that of Beziers and greater than eight Ligue 1 clubs. The visitors were promoted last season, got off to a solid start this time round, but early in the campaign I wrote ..............
Ajaccio now make their way to newly promoted Beziers who were only formed 11 years ago by the merger of three regional clubs. They have the smallest budget in Ligue 2 at 6m €, but that is likely to be more of a problem later rather than early in the campaign, for now, they are buoyed by playing at the higher level and could hardly have started any better winning 2-0 at Nancy who were Ligue 1 15 months ago and they will look to build on that today, but will have to play at the Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, which is an hour away from Beziers, whilst the final upgrades to their own stadium are being completed and they have received other help too in terms of helping prepare for the season from their Ligue 1 neighbour. That 6m budget is still 4.3 more than last season, so probably feels like an excess of riches right now. Wildly exciting times for them, I have to think they will struggle across 38 games, but I can see them riding this wave of enthusiasm to start the season and it feels like a good time to face Ajaccio.
Things have caught up with them now, they have not won in three months and they have scored just 4 goals in 9 starts ( 2 in 7) and they seem to have hit the buffers, run out of energy and are unable to play out their modus operandi, which was a fast start to games. Their five wins this season were against teams struggling (Lens could be in that group too, but that was then and this is now !) and three are bottom six including two in the drop zone, in each they led at half time and a remnant of that is that 67% of all their goals and 73% of those on the road, came before the break, but they can no longer burst out of the gates and that doesn't leave much they can offer.
RCL have also lost their way after a very good start, but it is all relative and they can move back up to 5th, within two points of third, with the win, they are 6-2-2 at home and have only conceded five goals here. This feels like a draw a line in the sand type game, they travel to leaders Metz next and if they could cherry pick an opponent today, I suspect first and second choice would be Beziers ! This is a very long trip, doubly so for a Monday night, 10 hours by road, not sure how Beziers are travelling, I tried to look, train is not much quicker, which only leaves plane and, I am guessing, it will be by coach/bus. Conditions, with temperatures just around freezing with rain and a little snow today, are also very different from Beziers, where it will be 16 degrees daytime for most of this week. Fast start from Lens and home win.
Hosts will be without suspended defensive midfielder El Hadji Ba , but won both starts he has missed this season without conceding and led at HT in each, so not enough to put me off my game plan................
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Lens led 3-0 inside 40 minutes and that was the final score, with Beziers not having an attempt on goal on target. They made the very long trip to Lens and back and already looking weary, face the always difficult quick Monday-Friday turnaround.
Sochaux made last Friday's notes when they beat inform Clermont at big odds ................
Sochaux got 30 minutes plus out of new signing Saki (again, see above) and he should strip much fitter today. they also signed Yohan Mollo this week, the winger who has made over 170 ligue 1 starts (Monaco/Nancy/ St Etienne/Caen......21 goals/31 assists) and for Zenit in Russia, is looking to resurrect his career and goes straight into the squad.He could be a good signing at this level if he still retains his desire.
Clermont continue to outperform budget and are 5th, but as close to the team in 15th as they are to Metz in first place, they are coming off a 0-0 home draw with Le Havre where they were much the better team, but denied by some good goalkeeping and awful officiating with at least two (clearly) wrong and big decisions. They are the better team, but Sochaux might be on the up, have a little more experience in the squad now, we spoke earlier in the season about too much youth in the group, and, their need is greater and this is the time of year when that motivation starts to really kick in and finally, odds are big.
They won that 2-1, created the better attempts and only allowed Clermont one on target (they had averaged 3.5 pg in their last four road starts including three top 6 teams). Bayala and Sakhi two January additions both scored and Mollo got a 35 minute run out off the bench and this is team who could be fast improving and very different from their early season selves.Christopher Rocchia (Marseille) and Momo Sissoko (yes, that one ..............former Liverpool/Juve/PSG) also signed in January and are added to a 20 man squad for today. A team with no experience has suddenly become one with an abundance and if his attitude is right, I see good value in adding a player like Sissoko just to help the youngsters in this squad. Extra 72 hours for Sochaux to prepare for this.
2 units Sochaux -0.25 ball 2.23 asian line/Sportmarket.
Béziers : Viot, Marillat – Rherras, Mostefa, Atassi, Sidibé, Taillan, Savané, Boyer – Gbegnon, Banda, Bertrand, Etou, Nouri – Kanté, Denkey, Bokoum, Boujamaa.
Sochaux : Prévot, Zigi – Pendant, Verdon, Navarro, Lacroix, M’Bakata, Rocchia – Sissoko, Agoumé, Fuchs, Ruiz, Owusu, Sakhi, Daham – Mollo, Emanuel, Bayala, Sané, Robinet.
Good Luck.
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