Ligue 1 Betting: Return of Ibrahimovic should see rampant PSG run out easy winners

The main man is back for Laurent Blanc's side this weekend

The champions are a good bet on Saturday, writes James Eastham, who has the smartest selections from France's top division...

PSG v Nantes (2nd v 7th)
Sat, 16:00 GMT

The main reason to back PSG is Nantes generally only play well against Ligue 1's weaker sides.

Look at who Nantes' six victories this season have come against: Lens, Montpellier, Nice, Guingamp, Evian and Caen. The average position of those six teams is 15th. Against France's better teams, Michel Der Zakarian's side generally struggle: they lost 1-0 at home to Monaco, 2-0 at Lille and 2-0 at Marseille last weekend.

The other big reason to back PSG is the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He was rested for their midweek trip to Lille (1-1) so should be fresh and hungry. PSG are easing their star man back into action following his recent seven-week injury lay-off but he's already rediscovered his scoring touch: he netted the second goal in their 3-1 Champions League win over Ajax last week and the winner against Nice (1-0) last weekend.

PSG are 1.3130/100. For bigger odds back them on the Asian handicap (for a guide to Asian handicap betting, click here).

Recommended Bet
PSG -1.5 Asian handicap @ 1.9110/11

St Etienne v Bastia (4th v 20th)
Sat, 19:00 GMT

It's been a fantastic week for St Etienne: they beat local rivals Lyon 3-0 in the derby last Sunday and followed up with a 2-0 victory at Montpellier on Wednesday evening. St Etienne's W4-D3-L1 home record leaves room for improvement but they have generally dropped home points against better sides than Bastia (Rennes, Bordeaux, Monaco).

Bastia are bottom of the table having lost eight of their opening 16 league games. Their away record is W1-D1-L5 and their only win in their last six matches was at home to mediocre Montpellier. The Corsicans sacked manager Claude Makelele last month but there have been few signs of improvement under successor Ghislain Printant.

St Etienne should be too strong. The Asian handicap is the best selection as the hosts are playing well enough to win by a couple of goals.

Recommended Bet
St Etienne -1.0 Asian handicap @ 1.855/6

Rennes v Montpellier (5th v 10th)
Sat: 19:00 GMT

Given the form of these two sides, Rennes' price looks too big.

The hosts go into the game on a fantastic eight-match unbeaten run (six wins, two draws) - or nine, if you include their 2-1 League Cup win over Marseille. They have won their last four, including convincing victories over Monaco (2-0) and Nice (2-1) in the past seven days. Defensively they're in superb form - they've kept clean sheets in six out of their last eight matches - and in France U21 winger Paul-Georges Ntep have one of Ligue 1's most dangerous individuals.

Montpellier are an average side that generally get found out against Ligue 1's better teams: they lost 5-1 at Lyon, 1-0 at home to Monaco and 1-0 at home to Bordeaux. Their lack of goals is a big concern - they've failed to score in four of their last seven matches - and man-for-man are weaker than Rennes.

Back the hosts at excellent odds.

Recommended Bet
Rennes @ 2.0811/10

2014-15 P/L (1pt per bet)

Staked: 51pts
Returned: 52.92pts
P/L: +1.92pts