Olympique Lyonnais vs. Stade Brestois 29 8/7/21 Ligue 1 Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Olympique Lyonnais is hosting Stade Brestois 29 at Groupama Stadium in round 1 of the French Ligue 1. Lyon failed to qualify for the Champions League last season, but they will be playing in the Europa League instead. Brest is in terrible, terrible form, and they have barely escaped the relegation zone last season.

Lyon has lost a couple of important players after last season, starting with their captain, Depay, but they are still to sign someone to fill his shoes. Lyon has started the preseason well, with 3 wins, but they haven’t won any of their last 3 games, and we saw a lot of goals in all of those games. Lyon is always one of the favorites to win the title in France, and they were at the top for most of the last season, but lack of quality on the bench has cost them a lot. It’s still unknown who will Lyon play against in the Europa League, and that gives them the time to focus on Ligue 1 and to start this new season with a win. Lyon has made one big signing in the offseason, and that is Peter Bosz who will be their new head coach, and he is definitely a great coach that will change their game a bit, for the better, I think.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, Brest has barely escaped relegation last season, they ended in 17^th place with 41 points, 50 scored goals, and 66 conceded goals. In their preseason, Brest has played 6 games, and they have won only 1 while losing 4. One game ended in a draw. The good news for Brest is they have scored at least 1 goal in each of those games, but they have conceded at least 2 goals in all 6 of those games. Brest has made 1 big sale so far, and that was Perraud who left for Southampton. As far as the arrivals go, Brest has signed a few solid players, and that will definitely help them with depth problems. It’s not going to be an easy season for Brest, and as we can see from their current form, it doesn’t look well for them. The expectations are low for Brest this season, but they are hoping to be somewhat better than last season.

Lyon hasn’t lost in their last 5 home games against Brest, and they are on a 3-game winning streak at home. Lyon is a much better team here, they still have a lot of good players, a new coach, and more depth than they had last season. With Brest’s terrible defense, I see Lyon getting a win at the start of this new season.