Montpellier vs Strasbourg prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2024-08-17 15:00.
[p]Montpellier were the only Ligue 1 club other than champions PSG to neither progress nor regress in 2023/24 when it came to the final finishing position, and that was deemed enough for head coach Michel Der Zakarian to continue in his role as head coach. Having finished only one place ahead of upcoming opponents Strasbourg last season after they shared a pair of 2-2 H2H draws, this opening round fixture could offer an early insight into Montpellier’s off-season progress. [/p]
[p]The home fans could be forgiven for not being especially excited about 2024/25 after they witnessed just three of Montpellier’s ten Ligue 1 victories last campaign. Montpellier opened the scoring at home on just six occasions last season, forcing them to play catchup more often than not, and as a result they also finished the season with one of the league’s worst records as a home favourite (W3, D4, L2). This contest therefore presents an immediate chance to put that behind them.   [/p]
[p]Strasbourg endured the opposite problem to Montpellier last season, with 70% of their ten Ligue 1 victories being recorded at their home venue. Patrick Vieira tore up his three-year contract as head coach after one dramatic campaign that saw supporters rally against the new BlueCo ownership and their strategy of spending enormous sums of money on young players. [/p]
[p]New boss Liam Rosenior won many plaudits at Hull CIty for his nurturing of young talent at the club and as his stock remains high despite being sacked by the Tigers in May, he could be a good fit for a club that fielded the fourth youngest average squad in Ligue 1 last season. Rosenior will want to inspire his troops to cause a few more upsets than they did on their travels last Ligue 1 season, having finished with just two wins from 15 starts as an away underdog (D5, L8). [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Montpellier striker Arnaud Nordin should have fond memories of this matchup after scoring four H2H goals across the previous two seasons. Strasbourg benefited significantly from the personal success of then new recruit Emanuel Emegha last season, winning or drawing each of his eight competitive goalscoring appearances. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: 65% of Strasbourg’s league matches last season saw both teams score – a joint-league high – as did six of the last eight H2Hs. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Aaron Murphy[/i][/p]