French Ligue 1 2025-26 Predictions & Betting tips

Find our free Ligue 1 prediction for who we believe will be the top teams in the 2025-26 season. We'll supply you with plenty of information for your sports betting with our expert betting predictions!

Ligue 1 presentation and predictions - Football

Ligue 1 has become a very popular league for bettors across Europe and the world to bet on. Every week, punters are laying down their bets on the 18 top clubs in France as they battle for the title, European places or survival in Ligue 1.

From the first matchday in August 2025 to the last in May 2026, our experts' Ligue 1 predictions will help you give you the edge at the online sports betting sites. Discover our general predictions below, as well as statistics and tips on how to make the most of your bets on the French top flight of professional football. The predictions for each Ligue 1 matchday are always a thrill.

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Ligue 1 winner prediction: who will win the 2025-26 league title?

Aside from the French league title, which PSG win almost every year, Ligue 1 looks set to be a hotly contested affair from top to bottom until the end of the 2025-2026 season!

From the Velodrome to Pierre Mauroy, from Groupama Stadium to Parc des Princes, France's top clubs will be battling it out for the league title, for places in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, and for their place in the top flight.

As far as the title is concerned, PSG are once again the bookies' favourites before the season kicks off. Last year, in their first season without Kylian Mbappé, Paris played even better and made history by winning everything in their path (Ligue 1, Champions Trophy, French Cup and Champions League).

Once again this year, Luis Enrique's men are expected to dominate the domestic scene, and not miss out on their chance to add a 5th consecutive league title to their tally and retain the French league trophy for the capital club. Monaco, Lille and especially Marseille are not to be underestimated, but they will find it hard to compete over 34 rounds and will be fighting for Europe instead, in our opinion. Our prediction for the winner of Ligue 1 2025-2026: PSG champions of France!

Ligue 1 winner prediction 2025/2026 - odds for the title

• PSG - 1.12
• Monaco - 13.00
• Marseille - 15.00
• Lille - 21.00
• Lyon - 34.00
• Nice - 34.00
• Lens - 101.00
• Strasbourg - 151.00
• Rennes - 251.00
• Toulouse - 251.00
• Nantes - 501.00
• Brest - 751.00
• Auxerre - 1001.00
• Lorient - 1001.00
• Metz - 1501.00
• Paris FC - 1501.00
• Le Havre - 2001.00
• Angers - 2501.00

Odds taken from Bet365.

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Ligue 1 prediction for the Top 4: who will qualify for the Champions League?

In addition to the eventual French champions, the teams finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th in Ligue 1 will earn their tickets to the Champions League (third qualifying round for the 4th). This is a slight change from previous years, when the third-placed team only qualified for the play-offs, and the fourth-placed team did not qualify. This is due to the new format of the Champions League introduced last year, as explained in our Champions League prediction.

Behind Paris-Saint-Germain, who are therefore expected to be French champions, Monaco and Marseille look to be the two clubs most capable of taking a place in the top 4 and even on the podium. These are the two clubs we have few doubts about. They both have a superb squad and a very good coach, and they have also made a big splash at the summer transfer window, showing their ambitions for the new season.

Behind them, the battle will be much more intense! Lille, Nice and Lyon, for example, are expected to do battle. Although the latter are having to contend with financial and extra-sporting problems, we have a slight preference for Lille over Nice, who have been a consistent performer for a number of years now. Our top 4 Ligue 1 prediction: PSG, Marseille, Monaco and Lille in the Champions League!

Ligue 1 prediction 2025/2026 - odds for the podium

• PSG - 1.01
• Monaco - 1.80
• Marseille - 2.00
• Lille - 2.50
• Nice - 3.75
• Lyon - 4.50
• Lens - 9.00
• Strasbourg - 13.00
• Rennes - 21.00
• Toulouse - 21.00
• Nantes - 26.00
• Brest - 41.00
• Auxerre - 101.00
• Lorient - 101.00
• Metz - 201.00
• Paris FC - 201.00
• Le Havre - 251.00
• Angers - 351.00

Odds taken from Bet365.

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Ligue 1 prediction for the Top 5: who will qualify for the Europa League?

In addition to the Coupe de France winner, the future fifth-placed Ligue 1 club will qualify for the UEFA Europa League for the 2026-2027 season. In the race for the Europa League, we find the same clubs as above (Lyon, Lille and Nice), along with Strasbourg, Rennes or Brest. Here, Nice, with an excellent coach and a very good squad, seem to be the club with the best chance of finishing 5th in the French league and continuing their European cup appearances.

Taking our prediction for the top 4 in Ligue 1, we add Nice just behind them. Our qualification prediction for Europa League: Nice qualifies for Europa League!

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Ligue 1 prediction for the Top 6: who will qualify for the Conference League?

The club finishing 6th in Ligue 1 this season - or 7th, depending on who wins the French Cup - will earn the right to take part in the next UEFA Europa Conference League. Considered Europe's third most prestigious cup competition, the ECL has already seen the participation of OGC Nice, Stade Rennais, Olympique de Marseille and LOSC Lille, the latter reaching the quarter-finals two years ago.

Last year, it was RC Lens who took part, although they lost out in the qualifying play-offs! This year, Strasbourg will be representing France. So, generally speaking, most of France's top clubs are aiming to at least qualify for the European Cup.

If we look back at our top 5, we can see Lyon slipping in behind the rest of the pack and snatching the last qualifying place for a European Cup via the league. The club has endured a turbulent summer with the threat of relegation, and could well be content with that for want of being able to aim higher. Let's put a coin on Les Gones. Our qualification prediction for Conference League: Lyon qualifies for Conference League! Predicting the outcome of the Conference League is always a tricky business.

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Relegation prediction: which L1 clubs will be relegated?

At the bottom of the standings, the fight for survival is also shaping up to be hotly contested in Ligue 1 this season. As a reminder, the clubs ranked 17th and 18th at the end of the French championship will be relegated to Ligue 2 for the 2026-2027 season, and the club ranked 16th will enter into a play-off against a club from Ligue 2 to stay up.

In this quest to avoid the last three places, several clubs are involved, and we can imagine Le Havre, Lorient, Metz or even Auxerre battling it out throughout the year. We don't hold out much hope for Le Havre, who have been flirting with the red zone for the last two years, or for Metz, who are used to being in the relegation zone. As for third place, it's harder to say, but we're putting our money on Lorient. Our Ligue 1 relegation prediction: Le Havre, Lorient and Metz among the bottom 3!

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Ligue 1 top scorer prediction: which player will score the most goals?

As well as the collective team efforts, there's a particularly hotly contested individual title in Ligue 1: that of the top scorer. But which striker can become the French championship's top scorer in 2025-2026? Here's the list of players to watch this season:

• Georges Mikautadze (Lyon)
• Olivier Giroud (Lille)
• Ousmane Dembele (PSG)
• Mason Greenwood (Marseille)
• Bradley Barcola (PSG)
• Mika Biereth (Monaco)
• Goncalo Ramos (PSG)
• Amine Gouiri (Marseille)
• Arnaud Kalimuendo (Rennes)

Kylian Mbappe, the top scorer in the last six Ligue 1 seasons, has now moved on to Real Madrid, but last year's trophy went to another Parisian: Ousmane Dembele. Can PSG's number 10 do the double? So the race is back on, and the suspense should be at its highest until the end of the championship!

Ligue 1 prediction - odds on the top goalscorer

• Ousmane Dembele - 3.75
• Mason Greenwood - 4.00
• Goncalo Ramos - 9.00
• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia - 9.00
• Bradley Barcola - 9.00
• Desire Doue - 9.00
• Mika Biereth - 10.00
• Amine Gouiri - 15.00
• Arnaud Kalimuendo - 15.00
• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 17.00
• Georges Mikautadze - 21.00
• Olivier Giroud - 26.00
• Ludovic Ajorque - 26.00
• Emanuel Emegha - 26.00

Odds taken from Bet365.

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Information for inexperienced gamblers - how do you bet on Ligue 1?

Ligue 1 is France's premier league football championship. This elite competition pits France's top 18 teams against each other, with each side playing the others home and away. Between August and December, all the clubs play each other once, and the operation is repeated between January and May. So each team plays a total of 34 games, for a total of 306 matches.

At the end of the championship, several places have an impact on the future of the clubs: 

• The club ranked first is French champion and qualifies for the Champions League
• The clubs ranked 2nd and 3rd qualify for the Champions League
• The club placed 4th qualifies for the Champions League third qualifying round
• The club in 5th position qualifies for the Europa League
• The club finishing sixth goes into the Europa Conference League
• The 16th-placed club goes into a relegation play-off
• Clubs in 17th and 18th place are relegated to Ligue 2

There are therefore several bets to place in the French football championship, which explains why the Ligue 1 prediction is the most popular among French punters at the best online bookmakers every week.

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How to make good predictions on Ligue 1 matches?

Making a winning prediction on Ligue 1 requires knowledge of the league, but also good betting practice. SportyTrader has been a Ligue 1 specialist for a number of years and has some key tips on how to make the right predictions: 

• Look at the current form of the Ligue 1 teams
• Take into account the form of the Ligue 1's star players
• Know the list of players absent in L1
• Take a look at the psychological context of the event in Ligue 1
• Take stock of the importance of the match in Ligue 1
• Analyse the latest French league stats

These 5 tips for predicting Ligue 1 matches are the most important according to our experts, although that's not all there is to it. We've broken them down in more detail for you below.

Look at the current form of the Ligue 1 teams

The first thing you need to do to make a reliable Ligue 1 prediction is to check the latest results of the two clubs for your football prediction. A club like PSG are playing Lens, but haven't won in 3 weeks, while Lens are unbeaten in 15 games? Despite PSG's status as favourites, a reliable prediction could be to play the double chance of a draw or Lens. An in-form club will always be preferable for your Ligue 1 bets.

On this point, we would like to stress the importance of looking not only at the latest scores, but also at the performances achieved. Possession, Expected Goals (xG), number of shots conceded, shots on target, fouls committed or received, etc. will always be important. Don't forget that even a dominant team can suffer defeat if it luck is against them.

Take into account the form of Ligue 1's star players

Just as you need to take into account the collective form of the clubs for your Ligue 1 predictions, you also need to focus on the individual form of each team's star players. Imagine, for example, that a club's top scorer hasn't scored in 10 games, or that the usually brilliant goalkeeper has made two notable blunders: their poor form will then have to be taken into account when predicting the scenario for the match in question.

Never forget that a Ligue 1 team can often be dependent on one or two players in terms of performance, and that when these men are not performing well, results are not always forthcoming. Case in point: last year, when Cherki or David had a slump, Lyon and Lille performed much less well.

Know the list of players absent in L1

Following on from the previous tip, we'd like to invite you to take a look at the list of absent players for the Ligue 1 weekend. Whether we're talking about injury, suspension or even being sidelined by a coach, important players may be missing, and their absences will have a major impact on their teams' results.

Club captain suspended? Can't line up in the usual central huddle because a defender is injured? Has the leading goalscorer been sidelined for misconduct in training? Be wary and don't bet too much money at the bookmakers with your Ligue 1 prediction. Unfortunately, you could be in for a nasty surprise.

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Take a look at the psychological context of the event in Ligue 1

Another good Ligue 1 prediction reflex is to consider the psychological and mental environment of the match you want to bet on. In this respect, several factors need to be taken into account: rivalry between clubs, statements in the media before kick-off, tense final confrontation, major stakes in the match... anything that can have a mental impact on the teams should not be overlooked.

If you're a fan of Over 2.5 predictions in Ligue 1, for example (more than 2.5 goals in total), beware of duels where the pressure is high (end-of-season survival, derby), which are less likely to be prolific in terms of goals. If a team is still on a 6-game losing streak against its opponent, don't bet on its success either, as it will probably have an inferiority complex. There are many possible scenarios, and it's up to you to analyze them carefully (our expert tipsters take them into account in their predictions for this weekend's Ligue 1 matches).

Take stock of the importance of the Ligue 1 Mc Donald's match

Another good Ligue 1 prediction tip is to look at the psychological and mental environment of the match you want to bet on. A number of factors need to be taken into account here: rivalry between clubs, statements in the media before kick-off, tense final encounter, major stakes in the match... anything that can have a mental impact on the teams should not be overlooked.

If you are a fan of Over 2.5 predictions in Ligue 1, for example (more than 2.5 goals in total), be wary of duels where the pressure is high (relegation at the end of the season, derby), which are less likely to be prolific in terms of goals. If a team is still on a 6-game losing streak against their opponents, you should also avoid banking on their success, as they will no doubt have an inferiority complex. There are many possible scenarios, and it's up to you to analyse them carefully (our expert tipsters take them into account in their predictions for this weekend's Ligue 1 matches).

Analyse the latest French Championship stats

Finally, as a fifth piece of advice, systematically analyse the statistics of each club in Ligue 1. Knowing the different stats will help you make better predictions for the matches, and bet like an expert on alternative bets (number of goals, exact score, result, half-time with the most goals, etc.). 

Has a team scored more than 2.5 goals in 80% of its Ligue 1 matches since the start of the season? You can give it a try in this weekend's match. This is just one of the many examples you can find by reading the statistics. Don't hesitate to take advantage of a bookmaker's bonus to try your luck.

To finish with these main tips, you should know that our team of writers systematically takes them into account for each Ligue 1 prediction this season, as well as around ten other algorithmic parameters.

By simply consulting our Ligue 1 result predictions, you can be sure of getting the most reliable overall view possible of the various matchdays. Get into the habit of reading our predictions before each Ligue 1 weekend.

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What not to do for your Ligue 1 predictions

If you want to be successful in your Ligue 1 predictions, there are a few things you should avoid doing. Here's what we strongly advise against when making a Ligue 1 prediction: 

• Not analysing the Ligue 1 match
• Only take a club's prestige into account
• Bet on the lowest odds for no reason
• Betting on a Ligue 1 match with nothing at stake at the end of the season
• Chasing losses (betting a higher stake in an attempt to "make back" a loss)
• Betting on bookmakers' boosted odds without any analysis
• Blindly betting on your favourite team on a regular basis

Every week, many beginners and experienced punters alike get caught out and lose money too easily by adopting one of these behaviours. So make sure you don't get it wrong this season when betting on Ligue 1.

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Ligue 1 statistics you need to know for your predictions

Getting the most out of your Ligue 1 bets also means knowing the key statistics for the French league. Here are the figures to remember for your Ligue 1 predictions, taken from the previous 2024-25 season:

• Home wins: 47%
• Draws: 20%
• Away wins: 33%
• Average goals: 2.98 per game
• +0.5 goals: 95%
• -0.5 goals: 5%
• +1.5 goals: 82%
• -1.5 goals: 18%
• +2.5 goals: 56%
• -2.5 goals: 44%
• +3.5 goals: 35%
• -3.5 goals: 65%
• +4.5 goals: 18%
• -4.5 goals: 82%
• Goal timing distribution: 76-90 minutes (22%)
• First half goals: 44%
• Second half goals: 56%
• Average home goals scored: 1.61 per match
• Average away goals scored: 1.37 per match
• “Both teams to score: Yes”: 56%
• Average shots per match: 23.95 shots
• Wins by 2 goals or more (handicap): 45.6% of matches
• Correct score 0-0: 4.6% of matches
• Correct score 1-1: 10.8% of matches
• Most frequent score: 2-0 or 0-2 (16% of games)

For your Ligue 1 sports bets, opt for “More than 2.5 goals” and “Both teams score: yes” bets. Indeed, last year, we were treated to a fine average of goals with Over bets that were validated most of the time. The French league may not be the most spectacular on the planet, but it's still the one with one of the best averages.

We'd also advise you to bet on the teams to win at home, a bet that was taken 47% of the time last year! In fact, the proportion of draws was rather low (just 20%), while the proportion of wins by visiting teams was higher. Great odds await you on these 1X2 bets!

To return briefly to the goals, you'll note that the second half is (as in most other leagues) the most prolific, and that the last quarter-hour sees the most goals. Here again, some very interesting odds await you.

Finally, don't hesitate to try some exact scores! Often offered at very high figures, these bets could also win you a few euros. Even if nothing is guaranteed in advance, 

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In short: how to make the right predictions for Ligue 1 matches?

To make reliable and winning football predictions on Ligue 1 football, you need to do a number of things: analyse the matches, take into account the best practices mentioned on this page, know how the league works and the most important statistics.

If you don't have the time to study each Ligue 1 match in depth, you can simply consult the predictions of our L1 specialists, available every week at the top of this page. Free, open access and 100% manual and verified (no automatic or AI analysis!), they will help you make the right bet this season on the French Championship.

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Our current Ligue 1 predictions

Ligue 1: Best Odds

Are you particularly interested in French clubs? Take a look at our Champions League prediction to follow the progress of the French teams. 

If you want to stay focused on the French Championship, our Ligue 1 odds comparator is also available free of charge, as is our Ligue 1 Livescore. Everything you need to enjoy your favorite competition.