FC Metz VS LOSC Lille

Metz welcome Lille at Stade Municipal Saint-Symphorien on Sunday for the first round of French Ligue 1. Lille are the surprise champions from last year - hardly anyone would have thought they would be able to beat the mighty PSG or perhaps even Lyon who did very well in the Champions League 2019/2020 even defeating Manchester City. Lille were very solid throughout the whole season and lost only three matches! I most certainly do not expect them to lift the trophy this season - especially not after PSG have signed for example Messi, Donnarumma and Ramos but I still expect Lille to be in top-4 at least. They are clear favorites even away from home versus Metz on Sunday and I think they have at least 63% chance of winning so the pick for my fans is Lille to win at the odds of 1.65.

Metz have played pretty well during the pre-season taking a few wins but they also had some luck on their side in some matches. However, as many of my fans know I do not give too much emphasis to friendly matches in general. Last season Metz finished in the 10th place in Ligue 1 but were a little lucky in terms of expected goals and points. For this season rate them as the 15th best team in Ligue 1 - the fifth best league in Europe. For this season Metz have said goodbye to John Boye, who is now an in-demand free agent many clubs would like to have in their team. Also midfielder V. Angban left the team to play for Sochi in Russia whereas striker T. Ambrose joined KV Oostende in Belgium. No true top players have joined Metz so far for this season which is worrying for them indeed.

A week ago Lille beat PSG 1-0 at the Trophee des Champions (France Super Cup) final proving once again how good a football club they are! PSG, rather unsurprisingly, were the better team on the pitch though, even without Neymar, but Lille played very well as a team to shutdown PSG's stars. This must be a huge confidence boost for the reigning champions and having a competitive match under their belt surely benefits them going to this Ligue 1 opener. Metz have not played a competitive match since the 23rd of May. Last season Lille beat Metz in this same fixture comfortably 2-0 and Metz have not beaten Lille in their latest five meetings and have only scored one goal in these matches. It is also worth noticing Lille have played 14 matches in a row away from home in Ligue 1 without losing. Of course there were restrictions because of Covid-19 but it is still a very good record indeed. Lille have lost their manager Christophe Galtier who joined Nice and goalkeeper Mike Maignan left to play in Italy for AC Milan. Also midfielder Boubakary Soumare is now a Leicester player but I strongly believe the betting market over-emphasizes losing these three - Lille are still a very good team! 0-1 is probably a pretty likely final score in this match.

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周日，梅茨在圣交响体育场迎战里尔，法甲首轮比赛。里尔是去年的意外冠军，几乎没有人会想到他们能够击败强大的巴黎圣日耳曼，甚至可能是里昂，他们在2019/2020欧冠中表现出色，甚至击败了曼城。里尔整个赛季都很稳定，只输了三场比赛!我当然不希望他们在本赛季举起奖杯，尤其是在巴黎圣日耳曼签下梅西、多纳鲁玛和拉莫斯之后，但我仍然希望里尔至少能进入前四。即使在周日客场对阵梅茨的比赛中，他们仍然是夺冠热门，我认为他们至少有63%的获胜机会，所以我的球迷们认为里尔将以1.65的赔率获胜。

梅茨在季前赛中打得很好，取得了一些胜利，但他们也在一些比赛中运气不错。然而，正如我的许多球迷所知，我一般不太重视友谊赛。上个赛季，梅茨在法甲联赛中排名第十，但在进球和积分方面有点幸运。本赛季，他们在法甲联赛中排名第15，在欧洲排名第5。这个赛季梅斯已经告别了约翰·博伊，他现在是很多俱乐部都想要的自由球员。此外，中场球员V. Angban离开球队前往俄罗斯索契，而前锋T. Ambrose则加盟比利时的KV Oostende。到目前为止，还没有真正的顶级球员加盟梅茨，这确实让他们很担心。

一周前，里尔在冠军杯(法国超级杯)决赛中以1-0击败巴黎圣日耳曼，再次证明了他们是一家多么优秀的足球俱乐部!在没有内马尔的情况下，巴黎圣日耳曼在球场上表现更好，这一点并不令人意外。但里尔在阻击巴黎圣日耳曼球星时表现得非常出色。这对卫冕冠军来说肯定是一个巨大的信心提升，在他们的腰带下有一场有竞争力的比赛肯定有利于他们进入法甲的首场比赛。梅茨自5月23日以来就没有打过一场正式比赛。上个赛季，里尔在同一场比赛中以2-0轻松击败了梅茨，梅茨在最近的五场比赛中都没有击败里尔，而且在这五场比赛中只进了一个球。同样值得注意的是，里尔已经连续14场在法甲的客场比赛中没有输球。当然，由于新冠肺炎疫情，有一些限制，但这仍然是一个非常好的记录。里尔失去了加盟尼斯的主教练克利斯朵夫·加蒂埃，而守门员迈克·梅尼南则前往意大利加盟AC米兰。中场球员苏马现在是莱斯特的一员，但我坚信博彩市场过于强调失去这三支球队——里尔仍然是一支非常好的球队!0比1很可能是这场比赛的最终比分。