Ligue 1 Round 9 - Preview

Saturday 1st OCTOBER	KO	Sunday 2nd OCTOBER	KO
Caen - Nice	1900	Lille - Stade Rennes	1700
Dijon - Ajaccio	1900	Olympique Marseille - Brest	1700
Lorient - Valenciennes	1900	PSG - Olympique Lyon	2100
Nancy - Evian TG	1900
Saint Etienne - Auxerre	1900
Sochaux - Toulouse	1900
Bordaeux - Montpellier	2100
all kick-offs in CET

Caen

vs

Nice

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Thebaux Vandam, Leca, Herteaux, Raineau Hamouma, Seube, Proment, Bulut Frau, Niang		Ospina, Clerc, Pecjinovic, Mabiala, Diakite Fae, Digard, Abriel Mouloungoui, Pentecote, Mounier
TEAM NEWS
Caen secured a convincing 4-2 victory over Evian last Saturday. Les Malherbes are unbeaten against Nice in four encounters. Caen's Stade Michel d'Ornano has seen the fewest goals scored in this season so far.		Nice drew 1-1 with Dijon on matchday eight. Eric Roy's men have prevailed in a paltry one of their last 21 away games. Les Aiglons have won only one of their last nine trips to Caen, with that victory coming in 1996.

Dijon

vs

Ajaccio

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Reynet, Bamba, Zarour, Paulle, Souprayen Mandanne, Sangare, Altama, Corgnet, Bautheac, Jovial		Ochoa, Lippini, Medjani, Poulard, Mendy, Mostafa, Pierazzi, Cavalli, Sammaritano, Ilan, Socrier
TEAM NEWS
Dijon secured a 1-1 draw against struggling Nice last weekend. Patrice Carteron's side have scored at least a goal a game in each of their home games this season. 50% of the encounters between these two sides have ended in a 1-1 draw.		Promoted Ajaccio were held to a 1-1 draw with Stade Brestois in their last game. Should Olivier Pantaloni's men pick up three points on Sunday, it will be the first time they've achieved that at Dijon. Despite having Mexican international Guillermo Ochoa between the sticks, Ajaccio are yet to keep a clean sheet in Ligue 1 this season.

Lorient

vs

Valenciennes

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Lecomte Pedrinho, Bourillon, Manga, Le Lan Jouffre, Romao, Mvuemba, Autrel Emeghera, Aliadiere		Penneteau Mater, Mirin, Benjamin, BongDucourtioux, Kader, Cohade, Pujol, Samassa, Danic
TEAM NEWS
Lorient held champions Lille to a 1-1 draw on matchday eight. Les Merlus are unbeaten in their last five games with Valenciennes. Christian Gourcuff's men have only lost once in their last 20 home games at Stade du Moustoir.		Valenciennes needed an injury time equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw with Marseille. Daniel Sanchez's men have conceded at least once in each of their last five visits to Lorient. Valenciennes languish in 16th spot in the table, and have Mathieu Dossevi still on the sidelines.

Nancy

vs

Evian TG

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Gregorini Helder, Andre Luis, Loties, Hadara Cuvillier, Diakhite, Mangani, BakarM'Bile, Niculae		Andersen  Djedje, Cambon, Barbosa, Mensah Leroy, Rabiu, Sorlin, Govou Adnane, Sagbo
TEAM NEWS
Nancy continued their poor start to the season with a 1-0 defeat to Toulouse last weekend. Jean Fernandez's men, along with Brest remain the only sides yet to taste victory in Ligue 1 this season. This will be the first meeting between the two sides.		Evian were beaten 4-2 at home by a resurgent Caen last Saturday. Bernard Casoni's side have failed to win any of their last six games. The promoted side have failed to find the net in their last two away games.

Saint Etienne

vs

Auxerre

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Ruffier, Nery, Paulao, Mignot, Ghoulam, Guilavogui, Clement Aubemayang, Lemoine, Sako Kitambala		Sorin Dudka, Boly, Coulibaly, Berthod Cisse, Oliech Chafni, Traore, Contout Le Tallec
TEAM NEWS
Saint Etienne's winless run stretched to four games as they were held to a 1-1 draw with Rennes Christophe Galtier's men have had the least shots on target in Ligue 1 this season, with Auxerre striking the most. Sainte have found the net in 21 of their last 22 home games.		Auxerre thrashed Sochaux 4-1 thanks to Kenyan midfielder Denis Oliech's hat-trick. AJA are unbeaten in their last six against Les Verts. Despite that, Laurent Fournier's men have not won any of thir away league games this season so far.

Sochaux

vs

Toulouse

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Richert Corchia, Perquis, Peybernes, Mouykolo Anin, Boudebouz, Martin, Mikari Butin, Maiga		Ahamada Akpa-Akpro, Congre, Abdennour, M'Bengue Capoue Machado, Devaux, Sissoko, Tabanou Bulut
TEAM NEWS
Sochaux crashed to a 4-1 defeat to Auxerre on matchday eight. They had earlier lost 6-2 to Rennes, meaning they have conceded 19 goals in just eight Ligue 1 games. Les Lionceaux have only won two of their last five home games against Toulouse.		Toulouse recorded a slender 1-0 over struggling Nancy last weekend. Le Tefece have lost only one of their last 10 away games in the league. Alain Casanova's men have struck at least once in their last 10 league games.

Bordeaux

vs

Montpellier

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Carrasso Chalme, Henrique, Ciani, Marange N'Guemo, Sane Traore, Plasil, Ben Khalfallah Diabate		Jourden Bedimo, Hilton, Yanga-Mbiwa, Bocaly Saihi, Estrada Dernis, Utaka, Marveaux Giroud
TEAM NEWS
Bordeaux crashed to a 3-1 defeat to rivals Lyon last Saturday. Les Girondins are yet to win a home league game this season. Francis Gillot's men are however unbeaten at home against Montpellier for eight years.		Montpellier were overwhelmed 3-0 by league leaders PSG last Sunday. That match was the first occasion La Paillade failed to find the net this season. Montpellier last won at Stade Cheban Delmas in 2003, their only win in eighteen attempts in the west of France.

Lille

vs

Stade Rennes

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Landreau Debuchy, Rozehnal, Basa, Beria Balmont, Mavuba, Pedretti, Hazard, Sow, Cole		Costil Danze, Kana-Biyik, Mangane, Catherine Pajol, M'Vila Hadji, Feret, Pitroipa, Montano
TEAM NEWS
Lille were held to a 1-1 draw against Lorient last weekend. Les Dogues have scored in all but one of their last 16 Ligue 1 matches. Some of Lille's stars may be rested following their exploits in the 1-1 Champions League draw against Trabzonspor.		Stade Rennes were made to settle for a 1-1 draw against Saint Etienne last weekend. Les Rouge et Noir have won only two of their last 35 trips to northern France. Frederic Antoinetti's men were in Europa League action on Thursday, drawing 1-1 with Atletico Madrid.

Olympique de Marseille

vs

Stade Brestois

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Mandanda Morel, N'Koulou, Diawara, Azpilicueta Kabore, Diarra, Lucho Gonzalez Valbuena, Remy, Ayew		Elana Coulibaly, Zebina, Ewolo, Makonda Poyet, Grougi, Culma, Lesoimier Roux, Baset
TEAM NEWS
Marseille were held to a 1-1 draw wtih Valenciennes last weekend, with Jose Saez netting a 92nd minute equaliser and Rod Fanni sent off. Nevertheless, Marseille are unbeaten against Brest at the Stade Velodrome. Didier Deschamps' men can also count on the morale boosting 3-0 victory over German champions Borussia Dortmund in midweek as a catalyst for a rejuvenated league campaign.		Brest settled for another draw, this time 1-1 against Ajaccio, last weekend. Alex Dupont's men have conceded at least three goals in each of their last eight visits to Provence. They are also yet to get off the mark away from home, with no goals scored.

PSG

vs

Olympique Lyon

Sunday 21:00

With both sides amassing 17 points out of a possible 24 and heading up the Ligue 1 table at such an early stage, the focus is very much on coming out on top for both Les Parisiens and Les Gones at the Parc des Princes in Sunday night's headline game. Will the big spending capital club come out on top, or will Remi Garde's attacking side take the plaudits? Read the full preview of Sunday's clash here.