Ligue 1 preview: PSG, Lyon brace for top-of-the-table blockbuster

Table-toppers Lyon will be tested by big-spending PSG on Sunday in the most anticipated Ligue 1 match of the season.

With 10 wins, four draws and two losses this season, Lyon hold a two-point lead over PSG at the summit of French football, while they also have one game in hand.

Remi Garde’s side are on a superb run of form and have lost just one of their past 10 matches in all competitions but know taking all three points on the road at Parc des Princes will not be easy.

If they can beat the Parisian giants though, in addition to their match in hand, Lyon could have an eight-point advantage at the top of the table. That would be a massive boost to their chances of winning a first league title since 2008.

After a lavish summer spending spree that saw the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Ezequiel Lavezzi join the club, PSG were expected to romp to the Ligue 1 title this season.

But Carlo Ancelotti’s men have found life tougher than they expected, with five draws and three losses enough to stop them leading the league.

And if it wasn’t for the signing of Swedish forward Ibrahimovic, life would have been much tougher for PSG this season.

An all-round lack of league goals from the likes of Lavezzi, Javier Pastore, Kevin Gameiro, Guillaume Hoarau and Nene – the quartet have scored fewer than 10 goals between them – has been made up by Ibrahimovic’s pure brilliance.

The former Barcelona and AC Milan forward has scored an incredible 17 Ligue 1 goals in 14 matches and will enter Sunday’s match fresh off a hat-trick in a 4-0 midweek rout of Valenciennes.

Lyon have an in-form striker of their own, with French forward Bafetimbi Gomis second to Ibrahimovic on the league’s scoring charts with 10 goals this season.

The 27-year-old has scored five goals in his last five matches for Lyon.

In other matches across the weekend, third-placed Marseille will look to bounce back from successive 3-0 losses when they travel to Toulouse on Saturday.

Saint-Etienne sit fourth but have only won one of their past four matches. They will bid to rectify that at home to mid-table Lorient on Sunday.

With fourth to 11th on the table separated by just three points, plenty is on the line for the teams aiming to challenge the likes of Lyon and PSG this season.

Valenciennes go to Rennes for the Friday night match while Bordeaux are also on the road at Nancy, and Nice welcome the visit of strugglers Evian TG.

Lille won their first match in four against Toulouse on Tuesday and will look to make it two triumphs on the trot when they make the trip to Reims on Saturday.

Other Saturday fixtures see Troyes host Ajaccio, Sochaux battle Brest and last season’s champions, Montpellier, welcome the visit of Bastia.