Coupe de France champions Bordeaux start the new Ligue 1 campaign against newly-promoted Monaco, with the Principality Club eager to neutralize a two-point penalty as soon as possible.

Led by Francois Gillot, les Girondins failed to live up to their potential last term, seeing as how they couldn’t do better than a seventh-place finish in the league.

However, they took advantage of an extremely easy fixture list to win Coupe de France, having won the trophy without meeting a top table side.

The squad have since undergone minor changes, seeing as how Benoit Tremoulinas and Anthony Modeste left, while Jeremie Brechet and Lucas Orban arrived, and Chalme, Jussie and Savic returned from loan.

Les Girondins looked pretty poor during pre-season friendlies, but they then produced a very good performance in the Trophee des Champions, taking the lead and giving PSG a tough time before they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat.

With heavily reinforced Monaco next, Bordeaux again face a very difficult fixture, as witnessed by odds of 3.20 (11/5) offered at BetVictor on home win.

Midfielder Gregory Sertic is a major doubt with an ankle problem, but Lamine Sane, Abdou Traore and Henri Saivet have shaken off minor knocks.

Jeremie Brechet, Marc Planus and Henrique return after missing the PSG game through suspension, but Rolan, Diabate, Faubert and Bellion remain sidelined.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Carrasso – Mariano, Henrique, Brechet, Poundje – Sane, N’Guemo – Plasil, Obraniak, Maurice-Belay – Saivet.

The anxious wait for the start of Ligue 1 season is finally over for expectant Monaco chiefs, who have managed to attract some of world’s brightest talent to Stade Louis II.

Radamel Falcao, Joao Moutinho, James Rodriguez and Jeremy Toulalan are some of the high-profile signings and players who will be expected to make a huge impact this term.

The club were hit with a two-point penalty for crowd trouble last term, and no doubt they will be very motivated to put some points on the board early on.

Following a slow start, the Principality Club produced some very good displays in pre-season, with 5-2 victory over Tottenham the perfect way to prepare for the start of the league campaign.

As a result, Monaco are 2.50 (3/2) with bet365 to start the league with a win, whereas Radamel Falcao is 2.38 (11/8) at BetVictor to score a goal in the process.

There are no fresh selection worries for boss Claudio Ranieri, who is spoilt for choices in all areas of the pitch.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Subasic – Raggi, Carvalho, Abidal, Kurzawa – Toulalan, Obbadi, Moutinho – Ferreira Carasco, Falcao, Rodriguez.

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