Back

Ligue 1 betting guide

France Ligue 1 is the top division in French football, featuring some of the best players in the world, including Kylian Mbappe. Even though the league may be smaller compared to other European leagues, it is watched by many worldwide, especially during the Champions League.

As it has risen in popularity, Ligue 1 betting is as commonplace as in any of the other top five European leagues.

Ligue 1 is similar to the other leagues, but different in its way, presenting generous opportunities for football betting.

Let’s dive in and learn more about how to bet on Ligue 1!

French Ligue 1 in a nutshell

Ligue 1 represents the top flight of French football with 18 teams, reduced from 20 teams starting with the 2023-24 season and beyond. In Ligue 1, teams follow a fall-spring system, with the season kicking off in late August and ending in late May.

Every team plays 38 matches, one home and one away game against every other team in the table. The top three teams at the end of the season qualify to play in the Champions League, the highest level in European club football. The fourth team qualifies to play in the EUFA Europa League, the second-tier competition, while the fifth-placed team qualifies for the UEFA Conference League, the third-tier club competition.

At the end of the season, the bottom two teams are automatically relegated to Ligue 2, the second division of French football. The third-bottom team goes to a playoff against the winner of a playoff between the third, fourth, and fifth-placed teams in Ligue 2. The playoff winner earns their spot in the top flight for the next season, while the loser plays in Ligue 2.

Ligue 1 can offer many opportunities to make valuable bets, with a higher probability of winning than the implied probability of the odds.

For example, if we have PSG playing against a mid-table team at home, you can expect them to have low odds to win or score 2.5 goals considering how obvious the outcome is. Such bets are not valuable per se, but you can look for value bets offering higher odds and potential returns.

You could also bet on PSG to win both halves, PSG to score in both halves, PSG to win by a specified margin, and so on.

These bets may be less obvious or predictable than PSG to win or score over 2.5 goals, so they typically have better odds and are more profitable if you are right.

PLACE YOUR BETS

The league’s winner is awarded the Hexagonal trophy, which has six sides representing the founding members of the league, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, and Saint-Étienne.

Other notable awards given out at the end of the season include:

Golden Boot for the top scorer in Ligue 1
UNFP Player of the Year award for the best overall player
UNFP Goalkeeper of the Year award for the best goalkeeper
UNFP Coach of the Year award for the best coach

Throughout its history, Ligue 1 has been home to many talented individuals and teams that have made their mark. Let’s look at some of them.

Ligue 1 top all-time winners

Having been around since 1932 under various names and formats, France Ligue One has a rich history. Here are some of the most successful teams and the number of times they have won the league:

Paris Saint-Germain (11)
Marseille (9)
Saint-Étienne (9)
Monaco (8)
Nantes (8)
Bordeaux (6)
Reims (6)

The other clubs that have won more than once include Lille (4), Nice (4), Sochaux (2), and Sète (2). The only clubs to have won the League just once include Montpellier, Lens, Auxerre, Strasbourg, Roubaix-Tourcoing, and Mulhouse.

Ligue 1 top all-time goalscorers

Kylian Mbappe is the current star player of the league and has been shining ever since he transferred to PSG from Monaco.

He has scored 164 times as of June 3rd, 2023, and shares the all-time record for most Golden Boots won in Ligue 1 with five other legends of the game.

The top goalscorers of all time in Ligue 1 include:

Delio Onnis (299) - Reims, Monaco, Tours, Toulon
Bernard Lacombe (255) - Lyon, Saint-Étienne, Bordeaux
Hervé Revelli (216) - Saint-Étienne, Nice
Roger Courtois (210) - Sochaux, Troyes
Thadée Cisowski (206) - Metz, Racing, Valenciennes
Roger Piantoni (203) - Nancy, Reims, Nice
Joseph Ujlaki (190) - Stade Français, Sète, Nîmes, Nice, Racing
Fleury Di Nallo (187) - Lyon, Red Star

How to prepare your Ligue 1 bets

Before you start making your Ligue 1 bets, knowing some unique things about the league and having some tips to help you make better bets is a great place to start.

Here’s what you need to know to bet on the top flight of French football:

Predictability in Ligue 1

Predictability refers to how likely or unlikely a result will happen based on current form, past performance, squad depth and quality, motivation, and more. Predictability is measured using indicators such as probabilities, odds, and expected goals.

In Ligue 1, for instance, if PSG is playing against a bottom-of-the-table team, they will likely win. It is not guaranteed, but it is a relatively safe bet as they are *a team that has won the league seven out of the last 10 seasons and is known to score prolifically through its formidable attackers.

By using predictability, you can make safer, more responsible bets with more consistent outcomes.

Average number of goals per game in Ligue 1

When placing bets in Ligue 1, you can consider the goals per game scored and make what are essentially goal-based bets. In 2022-23, the average number of goals per game was 2.6. With this information, you can bet on the total number of goals in a match, which is offered as an under/over market.

Here are some of the offered markets and what they mean:

Both teams to score (BTTS) - As the phrase implies, you can bet on whether a match will have goals from either team or whether one or both teams will fail to score.
Over-under goals - In this option, you can bet on whether the total number of goals will be over or under a set threshold, such as 0.5, 1.5, or 2.5.
Matches drawn at halftime - For this bet, you bet yes or no on whether a match will be tied at halftime.
Correct score - You get to pick the exact final score for the correct score bet. It is a difficult but rewarding bet, offering high odds and returns.
First-last goalscorer - You can bet on who will score first or last. Like the previous bet, it is very exact and depends on who is playing, how well you know the team, their opponents, and so much more.
Anytime goalscorer - This bet is broader and allows you to bet on a player to score at any given point in the game.
Team to score first/last - You can also bet on which team will score first or last. You only need a general prediction for moderate odds and returns.
Half-time/full-time - For this market, you can bet on both halves of the match, with options that include home/home, home/draw, home/away, draw/home, draw/draw, draw/away, away/home, away/draw and away/away.

These are just some examples of bets you can make based on how you think the goals will go down.

PLACE YOUR BETS

Manage your money

One of the often-repeated pieces of advice when making bets is always to keep track of your budget. First, you should start by having a budget you can stick to and avoid betting more money than you can afford to lose.

You should also have a staking plan, with bets made according to your risk and confidence levels. A common rule of thumb among many bettors is never to use more than 5% of your bankroll on one bet or event.

When doing Ligue 1 betting, you should also keep track of your bets and their outcomes to analyse how they perform over time and if any of your strategies are profitable.

Deploy different strategies

One of the best ways to ensure you get the most out of Ligue 1 is to use different bet strategies. For instance, you can use singles, doubles, trebles, accumulators, and so on, depending on the level of risk vs the reward.

You could also check out different market types to diversify your opportunities, including goalscorers, match results, corners, and cards. In addition, you can use systems such as the Kelly criterion, Martingale, and Fibonacci to manage your bankroll and the size of your stakes.

If you are new to this, betting with small amounts of money is a great way to test strategies that work over the long term.

Home wins, away wins, and draws in Ligue 1

Ligue 1 betting outcomes can often be predicted when you know the home advantage, the away performance, and the likelihood of the match ending in a draw. Understanding how a team performs on the road versus when they are playing at home can help you make more informed bets with a better chance of returns.

This information is usually provided by betting sites and platforms, but it can also be accessed via aggregation websites.

Player form

Players have good spells and bad times that can be tracked using data about how they play across all games. When betting, tracking key players and even entire squads is essential to know how well they perform compared to their peers.

Generally, players in good form will perform better than players facing some challenges. It is not a guarantee that the players in better form will win every game, but most games will tend to go their way because they have more goals, assists, shots, passes, and tackles.

Ligue 1 history

Ligue 1 was established in 1932 after the legalization of professionalism in the country. It used to be known as National and Division 1 before it adopted the current name in 2002. The league comprised 20 teams, which was reduced to 18 starting with the 2023/24 season. It has included many notable teams and moments in its history.

Ligue 1 is ranked fifth by UEGA’s coefficient system as of 2021 but has produced a surprisingly high number of the best players of all time, including legends such as Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Michel Platini, and Kylian Mbappe.

Some of the most memorable moments include Marseille’s first and only French club win at the Champions League in 1993, which was marred by a match-fixing scandal in the same year that saw them stripped of their domestic title, Monaco reaching the Champions League final in 2004 and an unexpected Monaco domestic title win in 2017, led by a young Kylian Mbappe.

How to bet on Ligue 1 at LeoVegas

Betting on Ligue 1 at LeoVegas is straightforward. You can pick from a variety of betting options, including money lines, parlays, spread, totals, and futures. Follow these steps to get started:

Create an account at LeoVegas and deposit your money. At the time of writing, you can take advantage of a welcome bonus of up to $1,000 and a $30 free bet.
Go to the sports section and pick soccer. A list of leagues and tournaments will appear, including Ligue 1.
Click on Ligue 1 and browse through the markets and matches presented. You can filter by time, date, or popularity for easier browsing.
Pick the match and market you would like to bet on. The odds will be displayed next to every option, so you know what you stand to win if you make the right bet.
Enter the amount you would like to bet and confirm the bet. You can combine multiple bets into a parlay for a higher potential return.

After that, all you need to do is wait for the match to be over and for the results to come in.

Check out more betting guides: