Ligue 1: Exciting relegation battle Looms Large

Ligue 1 has reached the halfway stage with the relegation battle nicely poised to go down to the wire with bottom side Nimes just five points from safety. 

The bottom three places are occupied by Dijon (14 points), Lorient and Nimes (both 12 points) but all three sides will be looking to drag Saint-Etienne and Nantes down. 

Nimes face an uphill battle due to poor home form which has seen them pick up just four points – a win against Brest and a draw with Lens – in their 10 matches including suffering comprehensive defeats to PSG (4-0) and Angers (5-1). 

Away form has been the problem for Lorient, earning just five points, including managing just a point at fellow strugglers Dijon during a run of five straight away matches without a goal. Defensively they have been poor on their travels, conceding at least two goals in all but three games. 

Level on points with the promoted side, Dijon have suffered from a lack of goals with their 12 strikes the lowest in the league and are currently without a goal at home in six matches. 

However they do have the best defence of the bottom five with just 26 goals conceded, being breached three times or more in games against Lyon, PSG and Bordeaux.  

Nantes are on their third manager of the season already with former French national team coach Raymond Domenech appointed on Boxing Day and has overseen draws against Rennes and Montpellier. 

Christian Gourcuff led the side at the beginning of the season before being sacked on December 8 following a 4-0 defeat at Strasbourg which left the the Canaries with just 13 points from as many matches. Patrick Collot was appointed interim boss but earned two points in four games with draws against Dijon and Angers.  

Two points clear of them, Saint-Etienne finished last year’s curtailed campaign with 10 defeats from their 14 away games. They have improved this campaign with nine points thanks to victories at Marseille and Bordeaux and draws with Nantes, Dijon and Monaco. 

It all points to an intriguing second half of the season at the wrong end of table in Ligue 1.

Notable Results 

Rennes 2-2 Lyon – Late goals from Memphis Depay and Jason Denayer see Lyon come from two goals down to be crowned autumn champions. 

PSG 3-0 Brest – Moise Kean opens scoring before goals in last 10 minutes from Mauro Icardi and Pablo Sarabia give Mauricio Pochettino first win as manager. 

Dijon 0-0 Marseille – Struggling hosts fail to score for a sixth consecutive home match and remain in relegation zone but gain valuable point against European chasing Marseille. 

Monaco 3-0 Angers – Niko Kovac’s side earn impressive win with Guillermo Maripán, Kevin Volland and Stevan Jovetić extend unbeaten run to four. 

Nimes 0-1 Lille – Bottom-placed Nimes narrowly defeated with Burak Yilmaz’s strike keeping Lille third, a point off top.