You can get some big prices about teams like Marseille, Bordeaux and Paris St Germain winning the 2007/8 French league and this is because bookmakers appear convinced that the title is going the way of Olympique Lyonnais for the seventh consecutive season. They have certainly become established as the superpower in French football, winning twenty-four of their thirty-eight league games last season and forming the cornerstone of many people’s weekend football accumulator as a result.

Even the distraction of Champions League football every season hasn’t affected their domestic stride too much, although continuous failings at the quarter final stage of this competition will only serve to strengthen their desire to go further even if it is at the expense of their league form. That said, it would be no great surprise to see some bookmakers open a “Without Lyon” book in an attempt to drum up more business on this competition.

Indeed, this should be an exciting market if the 2006/7 table is anything to go by. Just ten points separated 2nd-placed Marseille from 8th-placed Auxerre and it’s almost certain that there will be a similar scramble for places next season. For those looking to bet on this league, it’s clear that home advantage counts a good deal more than some of the other top domestic leagues in Europe. Take 13th-placed Nancy for example, who won as many home matches as champions Lyon last term (12), but managed just one win away from home all season.