Lorient-Montpellier is a Ligue 1 Week 16 match to be played on Thursday at 5pm: odds, predictions, live TV and streaming.
With the aim of proving that all those consecutive victories were not just the result of chance, Lorient, the great surprise of this Ligue 1, return to the pitch. Breton are a club accustomed to fighting to avoid relegation, narrowly escaping it last year, but this season Les Merlus have left everyone speechless, claiming eight wins in their first ten league matches and finding themselves in the European zone.
Once the long positive streak was broken, however, Regis Le Bris’ orange-blacks were unable to win again, arriving at the World Cup break with just three points from five games. The classification, however, still smiles on the Breton team, which has 28 points and only four clubs ahead of it (Psg, Lens, Rennes and Marseille). The second half of the season will tell whether Lorient will be able to maintain this position and secure a place in the European cups, which would be a memorable feat.
The friendlies, meanwhile, did not provide much indication, with the cods having drawn with the Spanish Osasuna, lost to Guingamp and got the better of Nantes 2-1. On the other hand, Montpellier, Lorient’s next opponent, continue to experience a complicated moment, having started this season in perfect continuity with the previous one.
The Occitans are out of the relegation zone but the advantage over the fourth-last place is just one point and victory has been missing since last September. The two draws against Clermont and Reims in November had put an end to the haemorrhaging of defeats – five in a row – but the situation remains decidedly worrying.
The Prediction
Lorient should get back to winning ways after almost three months of fasting: we don’t know if the break will have done Montpellier any good, but Romain Pitau’s blue-oranges have not made a good impression so far. Moreover, theirs is one of the most beaten defences in Ligue 1, with 29 goals conceded in 15 matches: the total number of goals is likely to be at least three.
Lorient-Montpellier’s likely line-up
- LORIENT (4-1-4-1): Mannone; Kalulu, Laporte, Talbi, Le Goff; Innocent; Ouattara, Le Fée, Abergel, Le Bris; Moffi.
- MONTPELLIER (5-3-2): Omlin; Sacko, Jullien, Estève, Sakho, Maouassa; Ferri, Savanier, Chotard; Wahi, Mavididi.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
