Ligue 1 round 11

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

Derby time in the Rhône valley when Lyon take the short trip down the road to St Etienne. Bafetimbi Gomis left Les Verts for their big-boy neighbours in the summer and there's almost duty bound to be some sort of reaction from the St Etienne supporters toward him and, dare I suggest, it might not be entirely friendly. Lyon arrive in much the better form, despite the drubbing handed down to them last week by Nice. Les Verts have fluttered briefly, but the traditional roles of the clubs in this fixture have very much reversed over the last eight years. It was always St Etienne in charge, but Les Gones have utterly dominated the last decade. But forget form. Settle in to watch the mayhem. With games like these, it's amazing that no UK broadcaster picked up the rights.

Bordeaux host Monaco on Saturday in a first v second clash which, were it not for the derby, would easily be the game of the week. Nene has been brilliant for the Monagasques with nine goals from midfield. It's not all about him though, with able support from the likes of Park Chu-Young who is a doubt for this one as is Eidur Gudjohnsen. Bordeaux are at strength and are, therefore, favourites. A sleeper choice for game of the week comes at the Abbe-Deschamps where Montpellier travel to take on Auxerre. The home side are on the up while Montpellier's great start that took them as high as second at one point just slipped with a loss last week. Auxerre can be brilliant and rubbish in equal measures while Montpellier have been a model of consistency. Marseille welcome Toulouse to the Vélodrome who have André-Pierre Gignac back in top form. He's a threat to anyone and is one of the few to really flourish at national level under Raymond Domenech. PSG have their flu victims back in training and they resume their campaign at Sochaux, themselves in decent nick.

Grenoble's futile search for a first win resumes against Lille, but the northerners should be coming down the mountains three points richer. Grenoble are just gash. Lens are in freefall and have a visit from European hopefuls Lorient to deal with this week while there's a proverbial six-pointer between Le Mans and Nice. Boulogne are plummeting and are at home to Nancy this week while there's a mid-table kerfuffle between Rennes and Valenciennes.