Ligue 2: Orleans- Metz

Metz arrive top of the table with a three point lead, game in hand and 7-2-1 road record, they have the second highest budget in Ligue 2, double that of the 5th best and almost four times that of Orleans, they won the reverse fixture 5-1 in early season and will surely only arrive with three points in mind. It is all relative and I suspect that Orleans will be equally as pleased with their mid table position, until recently they saw National (3rd tier) as overachieving and were only formed in 1976. Their national profile was raised with a home Coupe de la Ligue game with PSG just before Christmas and Orleans performed admirably, losing 2-1 ahead of which my notes included ..........

The yearly budget of Orleans which is amongst the smallest in Ligue 2 and would probably just about be enough to keep the coffee machine full for the Parisians and it is a true David versus Goliath match up. I am not sure PSG know they have a game today, as all they talk about on the club website is Manchester United and the Champions League draw yesterday, a tie not being played for a couple of months. For Oleans, this is the biggest thing to happen since Joan of Arc arrived in 1429 ! They have added to their ground with the addition of a temporary stand to shoehorn an extra 1,400 spectatotors in and have put up a big screen in the town centre and even admission to that is limited and by ticket only. I think a goal would be a victory for them and we know that they rarely play scared and I do expect the home side to "have a go".

Their last five starts have seen both teams score in each, all go "over" 2.5 goals and four defeats, including all three of the home starts, I would not be surprised if we saw similar today, despite Metz's miserly defensive reputation, but i think there is a gulf in class and that Orleans will have to lift their game to get anything from this and just too much firepower in the visiting line up, especially with Habib Diallo who Metz were unsure about and debated selling, he has 15 goals and 5 assists and if they do sell now, it will be for a very big fee indeed.

1.75 units Metz -0.75 ball 2.38 asian line/Sportmarket.

Orléans : Renault, Gallon, Cambon, Mutombo, D’Arpino, Perrin, Cissokho, Le Tallec, Ziani, Tell, Bouby, Lecoeuche, Avounou, Pinaud, Furtado, Demoncy, Benkaïd, Lopy.

Metz : Delecroix, Oukidja – Balliu, Jans, Sunzu, Boye, Delaine – Fofana, Cohade, Maïga, Boulaya, Angban – Gakpa, Hein, Nguette, Jallow, Diallo, Niane.

Good Luck.