2025/26				Overall									Home						Away
				P	W	D	L	F	A	Gdf	Pts	Form	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
	1		Troyes	34	20	7	7	60	33	+27	67	LWWW	17	14	1	2	40	17	17	6	6	5	20	16
	2		Le Mans	34	16	14	4	50	31	+19	62	WXXW	17	9	6	2	20	8	17	7	8	2	30	23
	3		Saint-Étienne	34	18	6	10	59	38	+21	60	WLLL	17	11	2	4	39	18	17	7	4	6	20	20
	4		Red Star	34	16	10	8	45	37	+8	58	XWWL	17	7	7	3	22	22	17	9	3	5	23	15
	5		Rodez	34	15	13	6	45	39	+6	58	WWOW	17	8	7	2	22	16	17	7	6	4	23	23
	6		Reims	34	14	14	6	53	35	+18	56	WXXW	17	9	5	3	28	16	17	5	9	3	25	19
	7		Annecy	34	15	7	12	49	39	+10	52	LWWW	17	7	6	4	26	16	17	8	1	8	23	23
	8		Montpellier	34	14	9	11	41	31	+10	51	XLWW	17	8	4	5	27	20	17	6	5	6	14	11
	9		Pau	34	12	9	13	48	62	-14	45	LLLW	17	5	5	7	22	28	17	7	4	6	26	34
	10		Dunkerque	34	11	10	13	53	45	+8	43	LLWL	17	5	7	5	24	19	17	6	3	8	29	26
	11		Guingamp	34	10	10	14	42	49	-7	40	LLLL	17	6	5	6	19	22	17	4	5	8	23	27
	12		Grenoble	34	8	15	11	33	39	-6	39	WWXL	17	5	10	2	14	14	17	3	5	9	19	25
	13		Clermont	34	9	10	15	38	44	-6	37	WWXL	17	5	6	6	19	18	17	4	4	9	19	26
	14		Nancy	34	9	10	15	35	52	-17	37	WWXL	17	5	3	9	16	29	17	4	7	6	19	23
	15		Boulogne	34	9	9	16	34	49	-15	36	LLLL	17	4	3	10	20	33	17	5	6	6	14	16
	16		Laval	34	6	14	14	30	48	-18	32	WLOW	17	2	8	7	17	25	17	4	6	7	13	23
	17		Bastia	34	5	13	16	23	39	-16	28	LWXW	17	3	5	9	10	20	17	2	8	7	13	19
	18		Amiens	34	6	6	22	37	65	-28	24	LLLL	17	2	3	12	17	32	17	4	3	10	20	33

 

Relegated from Ligue 1 ...

 

	17		Nantes	34	5	9	20	29	52	-23	24	OLWL	17	3	4	10	18	27	17	2	5	10	11	25
	18		Metz	34	3	8	23	32	76	-44	17	OLLX	17	2	4	11	15	32	17	1	4	12	17	44

 

Promoted from National......

 

2025/26				Overall									Home						Away
				P	W	D	L	F	A	Gdf	Pts	Form	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
	1		Dijon	32	18	11	3	52	25	+27	65	WWLW	16	9	5	2	32	15	16	9	6	1	20	10
	2		Sochaux	32	16	10	6	51	26	+25	58	XLXW	16	9	6	1	28	11	16	7	4	5	23	15

 

I am not getting overly involved today (in terms of stakes) on Matchday 1, but it is a good opportunity to put down a few background notes.

 

We have two big name clubs up from the third tier in Sochaux and Dijon, the latter were in the top flight as recently as 2021, it is not unknown for teams to be promoted back to back, but I feel the duo will have stability/survival as their first and main priority.

 

Nantes and Metz came down, the latter are a perennial yo yo club and it is never boring for their supporters. Their last 16 seasons have featured 7 relegations and 6 promotions! I am not sure how long that bounce back can continue, this season looks tough, they showed little real ambition to survive in the top flight last season and their budget has been halved for this campaign. Nantes are a very famous club and finished 9th in Ligue 1 in 2022 and won the Coupe de France that season. Their budget has also been slashed, but will still be 30-35m€ ( I don't have full details yet) and that will almost certainly be top 2. They sold their top striker for a big fee, but  spent a decent fee for this level on a replacement and look to have strengthened in most other areas and they should go well.

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck!