betprepare.com

Fleury and Metz cannot be put in the same sentence. Fleury will be in the relegation battle, while Metz have champion ambitions and defending the title on their mind. Fleury's results after the first two rounds (defeating Le Havre 27-21 and losing to Issy Paris 31-30) might give a positive impression about their performances, but they have had some problems. Against Le Havre, Fleury were down four goals at halftime and secured the win in the last 7-8 minutes, when Le Havre fell apart. Fleury were down in Paris the entire game. They have changed two thirds of their roster, they have done the same thing for two years now. They have several experienced players who are carrying the team, but that worked against Le Havre, who lack width and against Paris who are weaker than last season. That will not work against Metz. French champions are an organized system, with width, and convincing at the start of the championship (Nice 24-20, Boug De Peage 37-25), and they were convincing in pre-season (5 wins, a draw and a loss). One of those wins was in August against Fleury 36-19. Right-back Gros will be playing today for Metz, she missed last week's game for personal reasons. In the first round, Gros was their top scorer against Nice with 8 goals. Last season, Metz won convincingly in the first game 33-21, and only 28-26 in March in a game that was not relevant for Metz.