Ligue 1 week 26

Saturday:
Nantes v Grenoble
Valenciennes v Lille
Sochaux v Nice
Le Mans v Le Havre
Auxerre v Toulouse
Sunday:
Bordeaux v Lorient
PSG v Nancy
Caen v Marseille
Monaco v St Etienne
Lyon v Rennes

After the chasers all let themselves down with draws last week, they all have winnable fixtures this week, while Lyon are at home, where they've struggled. Having drawn with Barcelona at the Gerland last week, they welcome Rennes on Sunday and it promises to be a tough game. Lyon have no new injury problems and their subtle mid-season reinvention that's brought players like Ederson and Abdul Keita more into it is paying dividends. Rennes still rely too heavily on goals from midfield, so key man for Lyon will be Jeremy Toulalan, sitting in front of the back four and spoiling. Fred, however, has finally left Lyon and will shortly return to Brazil - Fluminense, probably - while club president Jean Michel Aulas was very publicly touting Karim Benzema around Europe in what will shortly come to be described as a "come and get him plea".

Toulouse look good to spoil Auxerre's revival and Marseille have an eminently winnable game away at Caen and both need to win to maintain the pressure on Les Gones at the top. Bordeaux and PSG have tougher tasks, at home to Lorient and Nancy respectively. Les Girondins lost a thriller in the UEFA Cup in midweek, 4-3 away at Galatasaray while Lorient haven't won this year yet. PSG, meanwhile, won in midweek against Wolfsburg in impressive style, and meet a Nancy side who have lost three of their last four.

Down at the bottom, Valenciennes' recent resurgence will be tested in the derby against Lille, in good form themselves. It's been five games since VA conceded and this should be game of the week. Sochaux had a great win last week and have another tough one against Nice this time out. With both sides desperate for points - to stave off relegation and to chase a UEFA Cup place - this could be a cagey affair. Le Mans have been sucked into it down at the bottom, but a home game against Le Havre - surely gone already - is the perfect tonic. Nantes and Grenoble are locked together on 28 points, just above the drop zone, and they face off against one another this weekend. Grenoble are on a run of draws, and that outcome looks favourite once again.

St Etienne dropped into the bottom three last week, although they won well in midweek against Olympiakos, going through 5-2 on aggregate. They travel to Monaco, three points above them on the league ladder, with the home side in poor form. Les Verts need to win this one and will go level with the Monagasques if they do. They'd also put a potential four clubs between them and the bottom three. Again, this looks a cagey one with the price of defeat a heavy one.