Reims vs Clermont prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2022-08-13 13:00.
For the third consecutive Ligue 1 season, Stade de Reims failed to win on the opening weekend, with the gulf of class between them and last year’s runners-up Marseille (L 1-4) pointing towards a third straight bottom-half finish at first glance. Despite the scoreline, manager Ă“scar GarcĂa believed his team deserved better for their efforts, although this latest defeat marks seven league games without a clean sheet for his side.
They’ll welcome the prospect of hosting lower class opposition in their first home game of the season, particularly when considering three of their five home wins from last Ligue 1 season (D6, L8) were against teams who finished 17th or lower in the standings, including a third consecutive home defeat of upcoming opponents Clermont by a one-goal margin.
If mid-table Reims’ matchday one defeat was to be expected, few would then have been surprised to see a Clermont side, who narrowly escaped relegation last season, put to the sword (L 0-5) by defending champions PSG – in what was Ligue 1’s first 5-0 Round 1 result in more than 20 years. There is certainly no need to panic yet however, with just eight of the last 20 Ligue 1 seasons seeing the club at the bottom of the table after the first round going on to be relegated.
With that in mind, Clermont shouldn’t be too downhearted, and they travel here after seeing their 36 league points last season split evenly between home and away, including five very handy wins as travelling outsiders (D3, L10) which helped keep them afloat. So despite last season’s 1-0 H2H failure in the Champagne city, there remains enough optimism here for the visitors to keep their glasses half full.
Players to watch: All but one of Folarin Balogun’s last six goals for club or country have been recorded after half-time, and he opened Reims’ account last week. With Mohamed Bayo having moved to Lille, Elbasan Rashani stands as the only Clermont player to have scored in at least three Ligue 1 away trips for the club last season.
Hot stat: All but one of Reims’ last seven Ligue 1 fixtures have produced at least three total goals.