Many call Ligue 1 a “farmers’ league” because of PSG’s unprecedented dominance since the arrival of QSI. They have won nine out of the last 10 French domestic titles, and they’ll look to add another one next season to their already packed trophy case.
The pre-season SBOTOP Ligue 1 2023 odds have them as the favourites to win it all again next season, but their margin for error isn’t as big as before.
That is because when they won their record-breaking 11th domestic title last season, it took them until the 37th matchday before sealing the deal, a far cry from their past title runs.
And with PSG currently in a state of flux, this might present an opportunity for these teams to take the crown next season.
Lille
Lille were the only team to win a Ligue 1 title during PSG’s decade of dominance. It was their fourth top-flight crown in club history, and they did it through grit and teamwork.
Managed by Christophe Galtier, Lille built an iron-clad defence that conceded just 23 goals, with the likes of Sven Botman, Jose Fonte, and Mike Maignan leading the way.
As the old adage goes, defence wins titles, so Lille must rediscover their defencive identity if they are to win it all again.
Last season, Lille conceded 44 goals, good for sixth-best in the league. They can improve on that end since they still have the evergreen Jose Fonte to guide the likes of Lucas Chevalier, Alexsandro, Gabriel Gudmundsson, and Bafode Diakite, who are all under 25 years old.
Chevalier is emerging as a rising star for Les Dogues, making the goalkeeper position his own at the age of just 21. If he keeps this up, we will be seeing him play for the senior French national football team soon.
And then there’s Jonathan David, who finished third in the Golden Boot race last term with 24 goals. The 23-year-old Canadian is likely to stay put this summer amid interest from overseas clubs, so he’ll continue to be their main attacking outlet next season.
Marseille
Les Olympiens finished third last season because of an ill-timed three-game losing streak towards the end of the campaign. When Igor Tudor left the club, they appointed Marcelino to be their next manager, hoping that he’d turn their fortunes around.
Marcelino is a proven winner in Spain, leading Valencia to win the Copa del Rey trophy in 2019 and Athletic Bilbao to win the Spanish Super Cup in 2021.
He will be out of his comfort zone, however, because he will be working outside his native Spain for the first time. But he will inherit a group filled with experienced campaigners, which should help his transition.
Alexis Sanchez was the team’s top scorer last season with 16 goals, and he added three assists. Chancel Mbemba, despite being a defender, was behind Sanchez with seven goals, while Cengiz Under, Matteo Guendouzi, Jordan Veretout, and Dimitri Payet combined for 17 goals and 15 assists.
Marseille are looking to sign Sanchez to a new deal, but no agreement has yet been reached between both sides. With Sanchez’s departure imminent, as the Ligue 1 2023 updates suggest, the arrivals of Amine Harit and Geoffrey Kondogbia should help mitigate the huge loss.
Kondogbia will team up again with Marcelino, with whom he won the Copa del Rey for Valencia four years ago. Harit, meanwhile, officially became a permanent player when Les Olympiens activated his buy option after spending the last two years in Marseille on loan from Schalke 04.
Rennes
Rennes finished fourth in the Ligue 1 table last season. Although they were miles away from catching PSG, they have reasons to be confident ahead of the 2023-24 season.
That is because they were one of the rare teams to achieve a league double against them. In their two league meetings last season, Rennes secured back-to-back clean sheets for an aggregate tally of 3-0.
They have one of the best attacking units in the league. Amine Gouiri and Martin Terrier led the team in scoring with 17 and 12 goals, respectively, and they also recorded 11 assists combined.
Benjamin Bourigeaud was their top playmaker with 13 assists, while Jeremy Doku and Karl Toko Ekambi were also a handful to deal with in the final third, having scored 11 goals between them last season. Rennes will essentially have the same roster, and they got even stronger with the acquisition of Enzo Le Fee, who was Lorient’s best player last 2022-23 season.
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