Another exciting Ligue 1 weekend is in store, as Troyes host Nantes looking to back up last week’s first win of the season, Marseille aim for their first league win at home since September, and Bordeaux attempt to find eleven players who haven’t yet moved to the far north of England. Here’s our pick of three of the weekend’s most interesting ties.

SCO Angers v AS Monaco – Saturday 16:00 by @rich_allen85

This game promises to be an intriguing match up as 5th play 2nd. Angers go into the game off the back of three consecutive defeats in league and cup. Last week’s thrashing in the capital saw them fall victim to PSG and Angel Di Maria at their absolute best. How they react to their first big defeat of the season will be key to deciding how the rest of their season plays out. Whilst losing matches away from hom against the likes of PSG and Nice is nothing be downhearted about, Angers will be eager not to let defeats become a habit. They are fortunate then that whilst their defence has shown uncharacteristic generosity of late, in Pierrick Capelle they have a player in good scoring form. A goal in each of their last three league games has eased the pressure slightly on an attack that hasn’t set the world alight of late.

Saturday’s game won’t be easy for Stephane Moulin’s side as they come up against one of the league’s most in-form sides. Leonardo Jardim and Monaco seem to have discovered last year’s midas touch and with only three losses all season and undefeated since early November, things are on the up for the Monegasques. With a settled defence, Jardim has been able to pick and choose his attacking options from the vast number of players available. In the last few weeks we have started to see the return to form of Bernardo Silva and Joao Moutinho and with Thomas Lemar continues to impress, Monaco have turned the screw in their quest to retain their second place. With Lacina Traore doubtful through injury, Jardim should turn to Guido Carrillo who put in a much brighter performance in the win over Toulouse.

Only PSG have more points away from home than Monaco and whilst Angers have been strong at home all season, the form of the visitors should see them secure a point at the very least.

SC Bastia v Olympique Lyonnais – Saturday 19:00 by @Philby1976

Tucked into the Saturday evening multiplex is a game where no result would be that surprising. Lyon’s league form is not great, with four points from their last five matches, and they are travelling to the team that’s third in the table for home results. However, the OL injury list is lifting, and Bastia have had a busy week administratively speaking, which could well have an impact on their usual obduracy at Furiani.

First, last week’s ruling from the LFP Disciplinary Committee confirmed a four-match ban for Seko Fofana after he headbutted Jonas Martin in game 21; Francois Modesto also picked up a suspension for this match for an accumulation of bookings. Then the club confirmed that they had failed to persuade the DNCG to lift the financial restrictions in place, so they will not be able to recruit this January; shortly afterwards they announced the promotion of two 19-year-old Juliens (Romain, an attacking midfielder, and Benhaim, centre back) from the CFA2 squad. Then, it was announced that Ghislain Printant is no longer the SCB manager and that Francois Ciccolini will be taking over. Later on Thursday, more disciplinary news as the suspensions following the defeat away at Guingamp were confirmed: three matches (one suspended) for Floyd Ayite, two for Yannick Cahuzac.

All of this adds up to four of their most-used players this season not being available for this match – five, with Florian Marange out injured – and a new manager on the bench who wouldn’t have had the means to add to the squad even if he’d had the time. The one bright note in the increasingly frazzled attualita section of Bastia’s website is that Florian Raspentino is expected to return to the field after his recent car accident.

It’s tempting to say that Lyon just need to show up and not make any crashing errors to get the win, but Bastia’s history of digging in is marked. They will need all their collective spirit for this one.

AS Saint-Etienne v Paris Saint-Germain – Sunday 20:00 by @jeremysmith98

Saint-Etienne welcome runaway leaders to the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Sunday evening, hoping for an upturn in recent form against PSG. Since going three league games unbeaten around 2012-2013, les Verts have lost the last four encounters, conceding 12 and scoring only one in the process. This season a 4-1 defeat was followed by a 1-0 loss in the Coupe de la Ligue. Both were at the Parc des Princes, though. Can the Geoffroy-Guichard crowd make the difference?

Christophe Galtier’s men have not been pretty to watch but have been reasonably effective of late. Unbeaten in three, last week’s draw at Reims followed a tough Coupe de France win over Ligue 2 Ajaccio and a smash-and-grab derby win in their last home Ligue 1 match, versus Lyon. They will again rely on a mean defence and the good form of keeper Stephane Ruffier to attempt to keep PSG’s rampant attack at bay. Alexander Söderlund will continue to lead the line and may not see too much of the ball; he’ll need to make any fleeting chance count, as he did against Lyon. With Pierre-Yves Polomat injured, Franck Tabanou may well make his first start since returning to the club.

PSG continue their serene progress to another title, last week’s 5-1 win over Angers adding style to the substance, and midweek’s 2-0 win over Toulouse booking another Stade de France visit for the Coupe de la Ligue final. The Cavaniless forward line continues to purr, with Zlatan in great goalscoring form, Lucas improving all the time and Angel di Maria unplayable. The defence, however, is becoming a little threadbare, with David Luiz now added to the injury list. Laurent Blanc will hope that Marquinhos and Thiago Silva pass fitness tests. If not, Presnel Kimpembe may play again, as he did on Wednesday, and/or Aurier may be moved into the centre, as he was last weekend.

Whatever PSG’s defensive injury concerns, it’s hard to see Saint-Etienne having the attacking tools to threaten them too much. Expect the PSG juggernaut to continue rolling.

Predictions

This week’s “expert” picks are: