Saturday
19:00 Arles Avignon – FC Lorient
19:00 RC Lens – Toulouse
19:00 Nancy – Caen
19:00 Nice – Auxerre
19:00 St Etienne – Brest
19:00 Sochaux – Lyon
Sunday
17:00 Bordeaux – Monaco
17:00 Lille – Valenciennes
21:00 PSG – Montpellier
Arles – Lorient
Arles Avignon are rock bottom in Ligue 1 having amassed 11 points from 26 games in the league this season. Their last outings ended in a 5-0 defeat away to Lyon and are a staggering 18 points from safety. Les Merius on the other hand drew 0-0 with Nancy last weekend and sit in eighth in the table, two points off a European spot.
* ACA are on a run of 14 consecutive games without a win
* Their 11-point total is the lowest at this stage in the competition since three points were introduced for a win.
* They also have the worst defensive record since 2003/04 with 50 goals conceded at this stage in the league.
* Lorient have won once in their last 5 games
Team News
Arles: Gael Germany and Kaba Diawara pose injury worries for the bottom-ranked club. Otherwise, no new injury worries are reported for ACCA.
Lorient: Cheick Doukoure and Arsenal loanee Gilles Sunu are the only new injury worries. The starting lineup remains unchanged for Christian Gourcuff’s side.
RC Lens – Toulouse
Les Sang et Or drew away to Nice last weekend, with the match finishing 0-0. Laszlo Boloni’s side are 19th in Ligue 1, and are four points from safety. Toulouse on the other hand are 12th in Ligue 1 and were beaten 1-0 by Sochaux last weekend.
* le Téfécé have lost each of their last four encounters.
* Lens last victory came against Caen on 22nd January
* Lens have managed to score in each of their last eight home fixtures
* Alain Casanova’s men have yet to be beaten by a side in the bottom five positions this season.
Team News
RC Lens: Franck Queudrue is ruled out of this encounter. Eric Chelle may return having been injured since January 21.
Toulouse: Alain Casanova has a selection headache in goal - Marc Vidal continues his recovery, first-team whilst Mathieu Valverde is suspended having been sent off last weekend. Ali Ahamada may deputise.
Nancy – Caen
ASNL’s last encouter ended goalless with FC Lorient last weekend. They are hovering above the relegation zone in 17th. Franck Dumas’ side won 1-0 against St Etienne at Stade Michel d’Orano courtesy of Youssef El Arabi’s last minute goal in the previous matchday. They occupy 14th position in the table, 3 points ahead of their opponents this weekend.
* Nancy are unbeaten in their last six matches against Caen
* Caen have racked up four away wins in Ligue 1 this season, one short of their all time record
* The previous encounter finished 3-2 in favour of Nancy, and saw 48 fouls committed, the second highest in the league this season
Team News
Nancy: ASNL have Massadio Haidara and Alfred N’Diaye out, they both picked up injuries last weekend. No new concerns for Pablo Correa.
Caen: Franck Dumas has no fresh worries, but will be sweating on the fitness of key player Romain Hamouna, who is still out.
Nice – Auxerre
Les Aiglons, who drew 0-0 with Lens last weekend, are unbeaten in three matches in all competitions and sit 15th in the table. Their opponents Auxerre, secured a shock win over title-challengers Paris St Germain last weekend. Only one point seperates the two teams. AJA will look to secure two consecutive wins for the first time this season.
* Nice have lost their last three matches against Auxerre, without even scoring a goal.
* Auxerre have failed to win any of their last eight away games.
* 209 minutes of action has passed since Nice scored a goal at Stade Du Ray.
Team News
Nice: Les Aiglons are ready to welcome back Gregory Paisley who has been out for a fortnight, however Emerse Fae misses out for the rest of the season, having been diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg.
Auxerre: No fresh worries for AJA, Julien Quercia the only new injury problem to surface, however the starting XI is set to be retained.
St Etienne – Brest
Les Verts slipped to a 1-0 defeat against Caen last weekend. They have only managed one win in their last five games in the league. They are 10th in the table. Also on 35 points are opponents Brest, in 11th and have two wins in their last 5 games, despite a 3-1 reverse at home to Bordeaux last Sunday.
* Alex Dupont’s men have never won at Stade Geoffrey-Guichard.
* However, Dupont has won his last three games as manager against Les Verts
* Brest have failed to win any of their last seven away games.
Team News
St Etienne: Christophe Galtier is missing key players Dimitri Payet, Christophe Landrin and Sylvain Marchal who picked up knocks last weekend.
Brest: Moise Apanga, who has 20 appearances this season is the only new worry for Alex Dupont.
Sochaux – Lyon
Sochaux won 1-0 away to Toulouse courtesy of a Modibo Maiga strike. They are unbeaten in their last 3 three league encounters. They sit ninth in the table, having amassed 35 points. Opponents Lyon thrashed whipping boys Arles 5-0 to stay in touch with the pacesetters at the top. They are undefeated in the league since 29th January when Valenciennes were the last team to beat Les Gones. Claude Puel’s men are third, four points off the top.
* The last eight games involving Les Lionceaux have seen eight red cards.
* The last encounter ended 2-1 in favour of Lyon – Alexander Lacazette scoring the winner
* These two teams are the only clubs in Ligue 1 who have won by a four-goal margin or more at least twice this season.
Team News:
Sochaux: Les Lionceaux have a number of key players on the treatment table including Brown Ideye who joined Kevin Anin and Jeremie Brechet on the sidelines.
Lyon: With one eye on a Champions League tie at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, Claude Puel is likely to rotate his side and places priority on the clash with Real Madrid. Cris is the only injury problem for Les Gones.
Bordeaux – Monaco
Les Girondins won 3-1 away at Brest last weekend, and sit 7th in the table, a point off the European positions. Jean Tigana’s men have two wins in their last 5 games. Monaco are 18th in the table, and limped to a goalless draw away to Valenciennes. They are three points adrift of safety.
* Les Girondins have put together two consecutive wins for the first time since November.
* They are also unbeaten in their last 13 games against the principality club (W8 D5)
* Les Rouge et Blanc have only won once in their last 22 away games.
Team News
Bordeaux: Jean Tigana should name the same starting line-up that turned out against Brest. Les Girondins have reserve keeper Ulrich Rame struggling with an injury.
Monaco: Vincent Muratori is the only new problem for the principality club, Daniel Niculae misses out again.
Lille – Valenciennes
Ligue 1 leaders Lille secured a 2-1 win against defending champions Marseille at the Stade Velodrome last Sunday. They have two wins, two draws and a defeat from their last five league encounters. Valenciennes arrive at the Stadium Lille Metropole unbeaten in their last six games, but have only won twice in that period. Philippe Montanier’s side are 13th, three points above the relegation zone.
* VA have lost each of their last three games at Lille, and haven’t scored in that period.
* Lille haven’t had a player sent off this season, one of three teams not to do so.
* Rudi Garcia’s side have won 21 of their last 27 league games at Stadium Lille Metropole.
Team News
Lille: No problems to report for Rudi Garcia’s side, who are set to line-up with the same XI that faced Marseille last week.
Valenciennes: No fresh worries for VA, Gaetan Bong continues to miss out as he recovers from injury.
PSG – Montpellier
The capital club slipped to a shock defeat at strugglers Auxerre last weekend, falling to a Kamel Chafni strike to condemn them to defeat, one of three in the league in 2011. They sit fifth in the table, six points ahead of Sunday’s opponents who lost at home to high-flyers Stade Rennes. Rene Girard’s team have won once in their last 5.
* Les Parisiens have won only once in their last nine games against MHSC
* They are also unbeaten in their last seven home games in Ligue 1 – winning five and drawing two.
* All of Montpellier’s away wins this season have come via a one-goal winning margin.
Team News
PSG: Peguy Luyindula was taken off injured against Benfica in the Europa League on Thursday. Mevlut Erding returned and provides a boost for Antoine Kombouare.
Montpellier: MHSC have no injury woes ahead of this match.
