Nimes Olympique vs. Stade Brestois 29 8/23/20 Ligue 1 Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Nimes Olympique is hosting Stade Brestois 29 at Stade des Costieres in round 1 in French Ligue 1.

Nimes wasn’t good last season, especially on the defensive end where they conceded 44 goals in 28 games, but by some miracle, Nimes was able to stay outside the relegation zone at the cancelation time, and with that, Nimes has stayed in Ligue 1 for another season. Nimes has played 3 games in the preseason, and they have lost all three, without scoring a single goal in might add. There was a time last season when Nimes has had 4 wins in a row, but just before the season was paused, Nimes was on a 3-game losing streak, a streak that continued in the preseason. Depres is the only injured player for Nimes, and he will miss the beginning of the new season. Nimes has signed 4 players in the offseason, and it’s clear that they are working on their roster and trying to get more competition and quality to the club. There were no notable departures from Nimes at this time. Even with these signings, Nimes is still one of the weakest teams in Ligue 1, but I believe they have enough quality to get at least to the relegation playoffs.

Brest was able to stay far from the relegation zone last season, and they were actually playing decent soccer on both ends. With 34 points, 34 scored goals, and 37 conceded goals, Brest has ended the season in 14th place in the standings. In the 4 preseason games Brest has played, they have 1 draw, 1 loss, and 2 wins, alongside 6 scored goals and 5 conceded goals. Brest’s form was hot and cold last season, but thanks to many bad teams in Ligue 1 last season, Brest was able to secure their Ligue 1 spot for another season. Denys Bain has ruptured his cruciate ligament during the preseason, and he will miss a good chunk of the season because of that. While there are no notable departures from Brest, they have signed Honorat from Saint-Etienne for 5 million, and Herelle from Nice for 4 million Euros. Brest is a decent team, but just not good enough to be in the top half of the standings, and even though they might have a few surprising wins this season, I don’t think Brest will go past 10th place, but they shouldn’t have any problem staying out of the relegation zone.

The trends are pretty even in this matchup, and while Nimes is in terrible form and hasn’t won a single preseason game, Brest has had a few good games, and they have scored some goals. This is a tough one, but because Nimes in terrible defensively, I will pick something on goals here.