Ligue 1, Friday, 23.08.2024 at 20:45
Mbappe may be gone, but the Parisians could certainly have used him next Friday at home against Montpellier. After all, the French international scored a flawless hat-trick in their last clash with MHSC.
And even if I have slight doubts that the capital side will successfully defend their title, my PSG Montpellier tip for matchday 2 is clear. Because I’m predicting an easy win for the Parisians
This is going to be a tricky season for PSG! In fact, I’m by no means sure that they will be able to successfully defend the Ligue 1 throne they ascended to three years ago this season.
The 4-1 victory over Le Havre on the opening matchday of the 2024/25 Ligue 1 season looks much more commanding on paper than it actually was.
The Parisians’ attacking efforts seemed to stall for a long time until something happened from the 84th minute onwards and a 1:1 actually turned into a comfortable 4:1
A lot will depend on late goalscorers Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Randal Kolo Muani this season, while the club’s management is still feverishly searching for further reinforcements to compensate for the departure of Kylian Mbappe.
Ademola Lookman from Atalanta Bergamo, for example, could move to Paris in the next few days and add further depth to the center of attack.
Meanwhile, the capital side will not only have to be wary of being beaten by Montpellier on Friday, but also of not letting a rampant Olympique Marseille overtake them in the standings early in the season
Montpellier drew 1-1 with Strasbourg on the first Ligue 1 matchday, which was to be expected from the outset.
“La Paillade” failed to establish midfield supremacy and, of the two clubs involved in this match, were rather lucky to have taken a point at all.
Moreover, the transfers made in the summer were not enough to put MHSC in the conversation for a place in the top half of the table.
Quite the opposite: a capable defender like Maxime Estève should definitely have been kept after his loan to Burnley.
PSG didn’t excite me enough on the first matchday to get involved in the one-sided PSG Montpellier odds that the first-class Sunmaker app is currently displaying.
Unfortunately, the competition is following suit, so it’s not possible to get significantly higher PSG win odds of currently 1.32 anywhere.
So unless you can find an excellent odds boost that would significantly increase your potential winnings, you will have to take an alternative route via a special or combination bet.
However, I already have some interesting information for you at this point, which will allow you to select one or two promising PSG Montpellier tips.
“Over 2.5 goals”, for example, despite its relatively low odds of around 1.37, is an absolute must for all sports betting fans with a statistical bent.
In 13 of the last 14 direct duels between the two clubs, this mark has always been broken and the Parisians have scored at least two goals in all of these games!
The fact that Paris St. Germain have also won their last ten Ligue 1 games against Montpellier and flexed their muscles in their last meeting in March (6-2) is another strong indication of the kind of combined bet I have in mind.
Although Kylian Mbappe scored half of Paris’ six goals in that second-round clash in the 2023/24 season, even without him, the attacking potential should be enough to put MHSC to the sword
Of course, I wasn’t particularly impressed by the opening win over Le Havre because of the way it was played out.
Nevertheless, point games are one thing for the capital team away from home and quite another at the familiar Princes Park!
Since September 2023, the completely meaningless 3-1 defeat to Toulouse on matchday 33 of the last season remains PSG’s only home defeat in France in this long period of time
Conclusion: I make no secret of the fact that I have serious doubts as to whether PSG will still be better than Olympique Marseille in 2024/25.
Nevertheless, Montpellier are not the opponents who will cause the Parisians serious problems at the Parc des Princes.
The capital city side should therefore put in a similarly confident performance against MHSC on Friday as they have done in recent years, and should be able to recharge their batteries for the tasks ahead.
My PSG Marseille tip: Win PSG & Over 2.5 goals
