Looking across Europe’s top leagues on Friday evening, there are some tasty games in France and Germany to whet the appetite for the weekend’s action.
FC Nurnburg v Eintracht Frankfurt (7.30pm)
The first Bundesliga clash of the next few days sees two sides go head-to-head who have made impressive starts this season and this could well be the game of the weekend in Germany.
Eintracht (9/4) have, in fact, begun perfectly and boast a 100 per cent record after three games so Nurnburg (EVS), who themselves have won two out of three, will know they will be in for a tough evening.
Victories over Bayer Leverkusen (2-1), a thumping 4-0 triumph at Hoffenheim and a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Hamburg mean the visitors will surely approach this clash with plenty of confidence as they sit second in the table behind Bayern Munich, who have also started with three wins from three.
Early-season results can sometimes be misleading with teams firing out of the blocks before fading badly but Eintracht appear to have plenty of talent in their squad to realistically mount a top-five Bundesliga challenge.
Goals have been not been a problem so far with Alexander Meier and Stephane Aigner, who have two apiece, particularly catching the eye.
Nurnburg, however, will be no pushovers and, with home backing, may also fancy their chances of a victory to maintain their good start.
Two impressive away wins (1-0 against Hamburg and 3-2 over Borussia Monchengladbach) have been sandwiched by a decent 1-1 draw at home against champions Borussia Dortmund.
A lack of star names means both sides focus on hard work and team spirit first and, with results going well so far for both, expect a tight contest with a draw appealing at 9/4. Goals look on the cards too and an entertaining 2-2 is tempting at 14/1 in the correct score market.
Montpellier v St Etienne (7.45pm)
The big game in Le Championnat on Friday sees out-of-form champions Montpellier (11/10) hoping to kick-start the defence of their title with a win over St Etienne (9/4, draw 2/1).
Montpellier were surprise winners of Ligue 1 last term and many people will not be surprised to see them struggling at the start of the campaign as they wrestle with higher expectations and the added burden of Champions League football.
So far, Rene Giraud’s side have managed just one win from five domestically (a 1-0 victory at Sochaux) and have been held to draws by Lyon and Toulouse while they have been beaten by Marseille and Lorient.
Clearly, all is not well, and the midweek 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in Europe, while no disgrace, shows their fallibility, especially as they threw away an early lead against the Gunners.
St Etienne, though, have not made a particularly good start themselves and sit in 10th place after five games, winning just two and losing the other three.
However, on closer inspection, their defeats have all been by just the single goal whereas the two wins were a fine 3-0 triumph over Bastia and a 4-0 hammering of Stade Brest.
Gabon star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is someone Montpellier will have to keep a close eye on with the striker proving a real handful to opposing defences so far as he has managed three goals and generally caused havoc up front.
There’s a case to be made for both sides to come out on top in this, too, but we think the visitors can snatch it, to therefore continue the champions’ poor start. Go for 2-1 to St Etienne at 11/1.
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