Ligue 1 preview: Ancelotti begins PSG campaign

Carlo Ancelotti will take charge of his first Ligue 1 match when Paris Saint-Germain host Toulouse at the Parc de Princes on Saturday.

Italian Ancelotti took over at PSG on December 30, replacing former PSG player and fan favourite Antoine Kombouare, who was sacked despite leading the team to top spot at the mid-season break for the first time in 15 years.

Ancelotti is highly regarded after guiding AC Milan to Serie A and Champions League success, before winning a Premier League and FA Cup double in the first of his two seasons at Chelsea.

His opening match in charge of PSG ended in an unconvincing 2-1 win away to Locmine Saint-Colomban in the Couple de France on Sunday.

The heavyweight side needed Diego Lugano’s 90th-minute strike to spare their blushes against lower-league opposition.

And Ancelotti will expect a much-improved performance from his expensively-assembled squad when they take on Toulouse.

Also on Saturday, this season’s surprise packet, Montpellier, face a test of their credentials when they host Lyon.

After finishing an unremarkable 14th last season, Montpellier found themselves unlikely front-runners earlier in the campaign, and now sit second, just three points back from PSG.

Lyon meanwhile are fourth, five points off the pace as they attempt to mount a successful title challenge for first time since 2008.

The other big match of this weekend’s fixtures comes on Sunday, when defending champions Lille visit Marseille.

Rudi Garcia’s title-holders Lille bowed out of the Coupe de la Ligue at the hands of Lyon on Wednesday, and will be keen to avoid a second successive defeat in the match away to Didier Deschamps’ team.

Marseille, champions in 2009/10, are sixth on the table, four points behind third-placed Lille and already nine points back from leaders PSG.

In Saturday’s other matches, bottom club Ajaccio welcome Auxerre to Corsica, and second-to-last Sochaux visit St Etienne.

The other team in the relegation zone, Nancy, await the visit of Lorient.

Nice, out of the bottom three on goal difference only, will be hopeful of picking up valuable points at Brest.

Two promoted teams go head to head when Evian visit Dijon, while fifth-placed Stade Rennes can close in on the top four with victory away to Caen.

And finally, Bordeaux are at home to Valenciennes in a mid-table clash.