Ligue 1 round 6

Nice v Monaco
Lorient v Nancy
Sochaux v Valenciennes
Grenoble v Rennes
St Etienne v Auxerre
Boulogne v Bordeaux
Marseille v Montpellier
Toulouse v Le Mans
Lens v Lille
PSG v Lyon

Top game this week is at the bottom of the bill. Having lost 'their' title, Lyon have gone away, regrouped and come back better for it. All the new signings are going well and one of those, Miralem Pjanic, got the winner against Fiorentina in midweek. PSG don't have European distractions and they were defeated by Monaco last time out, but they remain a decent side. Bordeaux are ahead of Lyon only by two goals and face promoted Boulogne. Before a ball was kicked this season, you'd have this down as an away win, but Boulogne have started really well. This will be their biggest test to date. Montpellier are in an unlikely third place and face Marseille in a south coast derby this week. Marseille are in fourth, two goals behind MHSC, and this is a huge game for both sides, even at this early stage of the season.

St Etienne may have fancied their chances of getting something from Auxerre in a relegation battle this week, but the Ireneusz Jelen comes back in to the AJA side and they are transformed. You could almost hear Alain Perrin's heart sink a week ago and it's the impish Pole that Les Verts will have to cope with to get something here. They've not coped with players worse than him, so their chances don't look great. Grenoble are bottom and face mid-table Rennes this week, there's a derby of sorts when Monaco go to Nice, Lorient and Nancy go head-to-head level on points in mid-table, Sochaux and Valenciennes both need points, there's a northern derby at Lens where Lille are the visitors and Le Mans make the long trip to Toulouse to face the misfiring Violets.