Before the OM and PSG matches on Sunday, the 16th day of Ligue 1 opens Friday evening with a great Monaco – Lyon poster. Presentation of all the weekend’s meetings.
A shock at the top that became a shock of the extremes. Monaco, third, welcomes Olympique Lyonnais, last in the championship, at the opening of the 16th day of Ligue 1. A poster which looks like a duel for the podium, but which now looks more like an unbalanced match between one of the best training courses League 1 and a club in the midst of a sporting crisis, which is still trying to get its head above water.
AS Monaco is comfortably installed on the podium of the championship, and remains on a prestigious victory in Rennes (1-2). For its part, Olympique Lyonnais obtained the second victory of its season last Sunday, against Toulouse at home (3-0), thanks to a hat-trick from its captain Alexandre Lacazette. If the Lyonnais seem to have found a little serenity with Pierre Sage at their head, so the interim period is extended until the break at least, they are still bottom of Ligue 1 and urgently need points. The match against Toulouse was reassuring, but the opposition will be of a completely different quality this Friday evening, and Lyon will perhaps not be able to count forever on its quality of set pieces (OL’s last five goals came on stopped phases).
Nice on the move, Lens on its way?
Saturday at 5 p.m., another candidate for the podium faces a more modest formation: theOGC Nice, runner-up to PSG four lengths behind the Parisians, travels to the Stade Océane to face Le Havre. Le Havre has had a very good start to the season but has not won in four games and is only four points ahead of Lorient, 16th and play-off. This match, against the best defense in France (6 goals conceded in 15 days), promises to be tricky for the Normans who have the second worst attack in the championship (13 goals scored).
On Saturday evening, at 9 p.m., a tantalizing duel between Lens and Reims awaits us. The two teams, tied on points, are serious candidates for European places, even if Lens, who beat Sevilla in Champions League Tuesday (2-1), seems better armed. The Sang et Or, undefeated in the championship since September 16, aim to continue their rise in the rankings, while they are still seven points behind the podium.
Marseille welcomes Clermont, trap match for PSG
Olympique de Marseille welcomes Clermont at 5 p.m. on Sunday. OM experienced disappointment on Thursday on the Brighton pitch (1-0) in Europa League, and will have to go through the roadblocks. In Ligue 1, they can continue their series of three consecutive victories and move a little closer to European places, facing a Clermont team in great difficulty and 17th in the ranking.
At the end of this 16th day, Paris Saint-Germain travels to Lille for a prestigious top-of-the-table clash. LOSC has not lost in the championship since September 26 (1-2 against Reims), and can get closer to the podium in the event of an exploit against the capital club. PSG qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League in the middle of the week, at the cost of an intense match in Dortmund (1-1), and must continue this weekend to maintain their accounting margin over their pursuers.
The other meetings on Sunday
Earlier in the day, at 1 p.m., Nantes hosts Brest. The two teams have a good margin with a view to maintaining their position, and the Finisterians are even the nice surprise of this start of the season. Brest, fifth, is in the European places and remains on three victories and a draw in its last four meetings. Nantes narrowly fell to Paris last Saturday (2-1) and had handed Nice its first defeat of the season the previous weekend (1-0). We will find two matches between competitors for maintenance in the 3 p.m. multiplex: Metz-Montpellier and Lorient-Strasbourg.
But the poster child for this multiplex is undoubtedly Toulouse-Rennes. Both teams qualified for the Europa League play-off phase this week: Toulouse won their ticket in Austria against LASK Linz (1-2), while Rennes lost the lead in their group on their home turf against Villarreal at the end of the suspense (2-3). But both teams are in difficulty in the championship: Téfécé is flirting with the red zone and has not won in Ligue 1 for more than two months (3-0 against Metz on October 1), and Rennais Stadium is closer to the bottom of the table than to the European places, with four defeats in its last five championship matches. Each side will have a lot to lose on Sunday.