A resurgent Olympique Lyonnais will be looking to extend their impressive unbeaten run in Ligue 1 when they make the short trip to face great rivals AS Saint-Etienne tomorrow.
Hubert Fournier’s side have recovered from a poor start to the campaign by going 10 games unbeaten since the beginning of September to climb to third in the table, four points off top spot going into the weekend.
While the two local rivals are as closely-matched as they have been for many years, Lyon may be slight favorites as they make the 60km trip to take on Les Verts at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, where they have won on each of their past seven visits.
Under former Lyon assistant coach Christophe Galtier, Saint-Etienne finished above Lyon last season for the first time since 1992-1993 and are unbeaten in their past five league outings.
However, they have been struggling badly to score goals this season and will have just 72 hours to recover for the game after Thursday’s UEFA Europa League clash with Qarabag Agdam FK of Azerbaijan.
Indeed, an overdue return to continental competition has dominated the thoughts of Galtier this season and before the clash with Qarabag he said: “We have not been used to playing in Europe and we dream of going further in the competition.”
In contrast, Lyon’s early European exit has allowed them to prepare peacefully for the 109th derby and they will welcome back talented youngster Nabil Fekir after a ban, although the injury-plagued Yoann Gourcuff is again set to miss out.
Leaders Olympique de Marseille were due to entertain Nantes at the Stade Velodrome yesterday evening as the best attack in Ligue 1 hosted the side with the best defense.
Nantes are fourth in the table after a fine run of nine games without defeat, but l’OM coach Marcelo Bielsa was due to welcome back several key players, including Nicolas Nkoulou, Alaixys Romao and Jeremy Morel.
“They are a team who are difficult to break down and who defend very well,” said Bielsa, who will again be without Andre Ayew.
Marseille begin the weekend a point clear of champions Paris Saint-Germain, who are still unbeaten this season and will be searching for a ninth straight win in all competitions when they play host to OGC Nice in the capital today.
PSG, who beat Ajax 3-1 in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, could welcome back Marco Verratti, Thiago Motta and captain Thiago Silva from injury.
Fifth-placed Girondins de Bordeaux are at home to a LOSC Lille Metropole side who have gone nine games without a victory and are bound to be feeling the effects of a long trip to Russia to play Krasnodar in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
Meanwhile, AS Monaco go into their match at in-form Stade Rennais buoyant after a remarkable 1-0 success at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the Champions League.
Rennes, who are two points above Monaco in seventh place, have not lost in seven matches and will be fresher, but their coach Philippe Montanier has played down the Brittany side’s prospects.
“They have the squad to deal with playing so many games. They are a Champions League team and it will be extremely difficult for us,” Montanier said.
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