French League 26/27 Preview
The 26/27 season in France begins with the same question that has accompanied most recent French campaigns: can anybody stop Paris Saint-Germain? Let’s take a closer look at the French top division ahead of this season’s kick-off.
The difference this year is that there is at least a credible challenger. Lens finished second last season, only six points behind PSG, won the Coupe de France and then provided another warning by beating the champions in the Trophée des Champions immediately before the new league campaign.
Behind those two, the battle for Europe promises to be fiercely competitive. Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Rennes, Monaco and Strasbourg all have legitimate ambitions, while several clubs enter 2026/27 under new management following an extraordinary summer of coaching changes.
At the bottom, promoted Troyes and Le Mans face the challenge of adapting to the top division, while Nice begin in the unusual position of being considered potential relegation candidates after only narrowly surviving last season.
Read Part 1 of our PL 26/27 preview here, with part 2, part 3 and part 4 also out.
Read our preview of the Spanish 26/27 season here.
Read part 1 of our preview of the Italian 26/27 season here, with part 2 also out.
Can anyone stop PSG?
Paris Saint-Germain remain the obvious favourites. Luis Enrique’s side have won five consecutive league titles and begin the campaign chasing a sixth, while their continued success in the CL has established them among Europe’s elite.
Last season’s statistics underline the scale of the challenge facing everybody else. PSG led the league for goals, expected goals, possession, shots and touches inside the opposition penalty area while simultaneously producing the strongest defensive numbers in the competition.
They have hardly stood still during the summer either. Maghnes Akliouche has joined a frightening collection of attacking talent that already includes Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Akliouche’s familiarity with French football should also make the transition considerably easier than it would be for a player arriving from another league.
The question surrounding PSG is therefore less about quality and more about motivation and workload. After years in which winning the league was treated almost as a minimum expectation, maintaining the intensity required every weekend can become difficult, particularly when the CL remains such an important objective.
Lens demonstrated last season that dropped points can make the title race interesting. They also demonstrated on Sunday that PSG are not unbeatable.
Lens defeated the champions 1-0 in the Trophée des Champions despite playing more than 50 minutes with 10 men. The result does not suddenly make them favourites for the league, but it provides an ideal psychological boost before the opening weekend.
The bigger concern for Lens is what happened during the summer. Pierre Sage departed for Crystal Palace after leading the club to second place and the Coupe de France, with Dino Toppmöller taking over. Important players have also moved on, including Mamadou Sangaré, Adrien Thomasson, Wesley Saïd and Allan Saint-Maximin.
The rebuilding has been substantial. Thorgan Hazard and Michaël Cuisance are among the experienced additions, while defensive reinforcements have been brought in as Toppmöller attempts to establish his own team without dismantling everything that made Lens successful.
That leaves Lens in an unusual position. They have earned the right to be called PSG’s nearest challengers, but they may simultaneously be weaker than the team that finished second last season. They will also have European commitments to manage.
Our expectation is therefore that Lens remain PSG’s closest challengers without quite sustaining a title race for 34 matches.
ArcticBet prediction: PSG champions, Lens second.
A fierce battle for CL football
The competition immediately behind the top two could provide the most entertaining element of the season.
Lille finished third last year but begin again under a new manager. Bruno Génésio has moved to Marseille, leaving 36-year-old Davide Ancelotti with the opportunity to establish himself independently after spending much of his coaching career working alongside his father Carlo.
It is a fascinating appointment. Ancelotti inherits a CL team rather than a rebuilding project, but maintaining third place will not be straightforward. Başar Önal represents an interesting addition, while the future of Ayyoub Bouaddi remains worth monitoring amid interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs, with a move to Man City a possibility.
Lyon have greater continuity. Paulo Fonseca remains in charge after guiding them to fourth, and the objective must be another CL qualification. Their European commitments could complicate matters, but Lyon possess enough quality to remain firmly among the leading contenders.
Marseille are perhaps the most difficult major club to assess. Fifth place was disappointing enough to produce another managerial change, with Génésio arriving after his impressive work at Lille. The departure of Mason Greenwood for Fenerbahçe removes a major source of goals, meaning Marseille need their remaining attacking players to compensate.
Génésio’s arrival should nevertheless improve their chances. He knows the league extremely well and has just demonstrated his ability to construct a top-three team.
Rennes narrowly missed Europe last season but should be involved again, while Monaco are attempting to recover from a seventh-place finish that fell below their usual standards.
Then there is Strasbourg. They may be the most dangerous outsider in the entire league.
Strasbourg finished last season strongly and, unlike many of their direct rivals, do not have European football complicating the weekly schedule. That gives them more preparation and recovery time, which can become extremely valuable during the winter when CL and EL clubs are playing every three or four days.
The quality gap between third and eighth looks small enough for the order to change repeatedly throughout the season.
We narrowly favour Lille and Lyon to take the remaining CL positions, with Marseille, Rennes, Monaco and Strasbourg following closely behind.
The teams capable of upsetting the established order
Toulouse are our favourite candidate to make the European contenders uncomfortable. Ninth last season represented another encouraging campaign, and there is enough stability around the club to believe they can remain in the upper half.
They may lack the squad depth required to finish above several of France’s wealthier clubs across an entire season, but Toulouse have become the type of opponent nobody enjoys facing.
Paris FC are even more intriguing. Their first season back in the top division ended with a respectable 11th-place finish, and Liam Rosenior has now taken charge. The English coach’s reputation for possession-based football makes this one of the league’s more interesting tactical projects.
Expectations need to remain sensible, but Paris FC are no longer simply attempting to prove that they belong in the top division. Another year of investment and consolidation should allow them to look upwards rather than towards the relegation zone.
Lorient are in a similar position after exceeding expectations last season. A 10th-place finish gave them a strong foundation, and another comfortable mid-table campaign appears more likely than a sudden return to relegation trouble.
Brest face greater uncertainty following the departure of Éric Roy and appointment of Julien Lachuer.
The club have spent recent years dramatically outperforming expectations, but maintaining that progress becomes more difficult whenever an influential coach leaves. A season of consolidation would be perfectly acceptable.
Auxerre complete the group. Their 2-0 victory away to Lille on the final day ensured survival last season and provided a reminder that they can compete against stronger opponents. They remain closer to the bottom than Toulouse in terms of squad quality, but we currently see enough teams below them to expect another season in the top division.
Nice face a very different battle
Perhaps no top league club enters 2026/27 with a more dramatic change in expectations than Nice. Not long ago, they were regarded as a club capable of competing regularly for European football.
Last season they finished 16th. Their division status was preserved only through the relegation playoff, where they eventually beat Saint-Étienne 4-1 on aggregate.
That experience cannot simply be dismissed as an unfortunate campaign. Nice must demonstrate that the underlying problems have been addressed, and until they do, another relegation battle has to be considered realistic.
We still expect them to survive. There is enough quality within the club to finish above the weakest teams in the league and last season should provide more than enough warning against complacency.
The fact that survival rather than Europe is even part of the conversation, however, demonstrates how dramatically their position has changed.
Can the promoted clubs survive?
Troyes return to the top division as Ligue 2 champions and consequently have the stronger foundation of the two promoted clubs. Their recruitment has included Australian goalkeeper Patrick Beach, who arrives after an impressive international tournament and represents the type of young signing capable of increasing substantially in value if he adapts successfully.
Promotion as champions matters because Troyes know how to win matches. They will inevitably have less possession and create fewer chances in the top division, but they enter with confidence and a team accustomed to positive results. We think that momentum will be enough to keep them above the automatic relegation positions.
Le Mans provide an even better story. Consecutive promotions have taken them from the third tier to the top division in only two seasons. They lost just four of their 34 league matches last season and arrive with enormous momentum. The difficulty is financial reality. Le Mans will operate with one of the smallest budgets in the league and have effectively climbed two divisions faster than their squad can naturally develop.
Patrick Videira’s work deserves enormous credit, and promoted teams driven by momentum can frequently surprise established opponents during the opening months. Maintaining that across an entire campaign is another matter.
Angers and Le Havre are the established clubs most vulnerable to joining them in trouble. Angers finished 13th last season but enter 2026/27 with relatively little margin for regression, while Le Havre finished 14th and once again appear likely to spend much of the campaign looking over their shoulders.
With 17th and 18th automatically relegated and 16th entering the playoff, every point between these teams will matter.
Players to watch
PSG inevitably dominate any discussion of the league’s best individuals. Dembélé remains one of the league’s outstanding attackers, while Doué continues to develop into a player capable of becoming one of Europe’s biggest stars. Kvaratskhelia provides another elite attacking option, and Akliouche now has the opportunity to prove himself within France’s strongest squad.
Lens will need their summer additions to settle quickly if they are to remain PSG’s principal challengers. Hazard brings considerable experience, while Cuisance has an opportunity to become an important creative presence.
Further down the table, several younger players could use the league1 as a platform for a breakthrough.
The league has always been particularly good at developing players before moves to Europe’s wealthiest clubs, and that will not change this season.
The most important individual story, however, may not involve PSG at all. If Lens, Lille, Lyon or Marseille are to produce a genuine title challenge, somebody outside Paris will need to deliver an exceptional season.
ArcticBet prediction
PSG remain too strong to oppose over a full campaign. Lens deserve enormous respect after finishing second, winning the Coupe de France and then beating PSG in the Trophée des Champions, but their summer changes make another sustained title challenge difficult to predict.
We expect Lille and Lyon to complete the CL positions, with Marseille narrowly ahead of Rennes, Monaco and Strasbourg in the next group.
At the bottom, Troyes are our promoted survivor. Nice should recover sufficiently to stay clear of the decisive positions, while Le Havre face another difficult season.
Our predicted league table is:
1. PSG
2. Lens
3. Lille
4. Lyon
5. Marseille
6. Rennes
7. Monaco
8. Strasbourg
9. Toulouse
10. Paris FC
11. Lorient
12. Brest
13. Auxerre
14. Nice
15. Troyes
16. Le Havre – relegation playoff
17. Angers – relegated
18. Le Mans – relegated
PSG winning another championship would surprise nobody. What should make this league worth following is everything immediately behind them.
Lens have established themselves as genuine challengers, the European race contains at least half a dozen plausible candidates and the bottom of the division appears close enough for one unexpected poor season to have serious consequences.
You can find all our odds on the French top division here.
Last updated: 21.08.26
Odds might have changed since the writing and/or publication of this article.
