Ligue 1 has not been an interesting league to follow over the past few years if you’re a neutral, or a fan of anyone other than PSG, for that matter.
The Parisians have won eight of the last nine editions of Ligue 1 and 10 of the last 12, with only two teams stopping their dominance: Lille in 2020-21 and Monaco in 2016-17.
Like every other European league, Ligue 1 has had a three-week break in action, so now is a good time to catch up on the results so far, the latest odds, and the big question: can PSG be beaten in 2026-7?
One Team’s Domination
For the best part of a decade and a half, PSG teams have been a ‘who’s who’ of the world’s best players, with former PSG ‘alumni’ who have since left, including the likes of Leo Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Angel di Maria, Thiago Silva, Edison Cavani and Marco Verratti.
Though Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules mean that PSG have to be a lot more careful with their expenditure on players and their sky-high wages for fear of getting fined or given transfer bans, they’ve still assembled a brilliant squad for this season.
Their world-class talents are Ferran Torres, Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and skipper Marquinhos, plus the Portuguese trio Nuno Mendes, Vitinha and Joao Neves.
PSG’s Slow Start to 2026-2027 Season
The good news for neutrals and fans of any team other than PSG is that the eternal favourites have made a surprisingly slow start to the season.
They failed to win any of their first three matches despite going off as hot favourites in all of them, drawing 2-2 with Rennes and Lille, and losing 2-1 at home to Monaco.
But they finally won on their fourth try, beating Brest 1-0 and then securing a priceless 2-1 win over Marseille.
Those two wins before the international break have seen them prop up the table to sixth with eight points from five matches, and after going off at odds of under 1.1 to win Ligue 1 yet again, they’re now available at a slightly higher price of 1.17, with the bookies rightly deciding their slow start may have consequences in the future.
Why the slow start for PSG? Well, the obvious explanation is they had more players in action at the World Cup than any other team in Ligue 1, so there will have been some tired bodies out there back in August, with little or no pre-season done, and it will take some time for them to get up to full speed.
If Not PSG, Then Who?
Either way, PSG already have some catching up to do.
Monaco are top on 13 points with four wins from five, including that crucial 2-1 win over PSG in Gameweek 3 and deserve some respect for their fast start, which is why they’re the 10,0 second favourites to go on and win the Championship. But they only finished seventh last year, so that would require some serious progress and improvement to actually be challenging for Ligue 1 under new coach Filipe Luis.
Lyon and Lille are on 11 and 10 points respectively and are available at 21.0 and 19.0 to win the league.
So based on those odds, it depends on which camp you’re in.
Important Matches Coming up After the International Break
When we return to Ligue 1 after this week’s Nations League matches, a couple of important matches stand out.
Lens, last year’s surprise runners-up, haven’t started too well, with just four points from five games, but deserve respect when they host Lyon, currently in second place and undefeated so far. The bookies are finding the two teams hard to split, with Lens at 2.4, Lyon at 2.7, and the draw at 3.9 ahead of Friday night’s game.
Then on Saturday, Monaco have a good chance to pick up another three points when at home to Toulouse, who have won just once in five, with odds of 1.6 on Monaco suggesting a home win is on the cards.
As for PSG, odds of 1.06 to beat Le Mans, also on Saturday night, paint their own picture.
If you’re looking for higher prices, PSG to score over 3.5 goals is 1.85, and over 4.5 PSG goals is 3.0. It’s 3.6 that Ferran Torres scores two or more by himself, and 3.75 that Dembele does.
