Ligue 1 Betting: Struggling Monaco to come unstuck on home soil once again

Monaco - seen here ahead of their weekend defeat - have lost some big-name players since last season

After two out of three winners at the weekend James Eastham picks out the best bet from France's midweek programme of fixtures...

Monaco v Lens (10th v 18th)
Tues, 20:00 GMT

We saw once again that Monaco are a shadow of the side that finished Ligue 1 runners-up last season when they lost 2-0 at Rennes on Saturday night. Rennes winger Paul-Georges Ntep tore Monaco apart during a one-way first-half and the Principality club had no answer after the interval.

Monaco have won only a third of their league games (five out of 15) this season and just two of seven home matches at Stade Louis II so their price of 1.444/9 to win looks too short.

Visitors Lens were good-value 2-0 winners over Metz at the weekend and have a strong track record away to bigger sides - they won 1-0 at Lyon in August and were unlucky not to get a point at Ligue 1 leaders Marseille (2-1 defeat) last month.

With our selection you'll make money if Lens win or draw, and even if they lose by a single goal (for more on how Asian handicap betting works, click here).

Recommended Bet
Lens +1.0&+1.5 Asian handicap @ 1.910/11

Montpellier v St Etienne (9th v 5th)
Nice v Rennes (11th v 6th)
Wed, 19:00 GMT

This is Ligue 1's best midweek low-scoring double. Thirteen of Montpellier's 15 fixtures this season have featured under 2.5 goals, with the same applying to 11 of St Etienne's 15 games. That's 80% of all games involving these two sides.

On the second game, Nice are also low-scoring - three of their opening four fixtures were high-scoring but since then, eight of their 11 games have featured two goals or fewer. Visitors Rennes' last seven games have all featured under 2.5 goals, as have 11 of their 15 games since the start of the season.

The stats are strong, and in both games the visiting sides are likely to try to keep things tight in the early stages before hitting on the break. The low-goals double pays out at a good odds-against price. 

Recommended Bet
Under 2.5 Goals double @ 2.53n/a

Lyon v Reims (3rd v 8th)
Thur, 20:00 GMT
Live on BT Sport 1

Lyon suffered their heaviest defeat of the season when they lost 3-0 to local rivals St Etienne on Sunday night. Hubert Fournier's hosts will be determined to show it was a one-off by bouncing back here.

Lyon may have failed to score at St Etienne but have been prolific this season (27 goals in 15 games, Ligue 1's third best scoring record). Some of their defending against St Etienne was woeful, with centre-half Milan Bisevac particularly out of shape, so playing on the front foot would be sensible.

Reims are W4-D3-L0 since the start of October and have scored in six of those seven fixtures. Given their excellent run of results Reims should be positive and will look to Benjamin Moukandjo - the Cameroon striker has netted in each of his last four appearances, three times off the bench.

With Lyon going for victory and Reims quietly confident, an open game is likely. Five of Lyon's seven home league fixtures have featured over 2.5 goals, and this should follow suit.

Recommended Bet
Over 2.5 Goals @ 2.0811/10

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

Staked: 48pts
Returned: 50.84pts
P/L: +2.84pts