Rennes on high as French tighten grip on troublemakers

Unheralded Rennes will be raring to prove that they merit their place among the big boys when they travel to champions Bordeaux as the French league returns to action at the weekend under tight security.

Rennes, sitting fourth after a stormy 4-0 win over Grenoble last weekend, are counting on pulling off an exploit at Bordeaux on Sunday after coming from behind to book their place in the last 16 of the League Cup with a 2-1 win over Sochaux on Wednesday.

This weekend’s matches will be the first since the French government announced new security measures following violence which has marred the start of the season.

The measures include increased police surveillance and points reductions for teams whose supporters are involved in violence at matches.

Bordeaux, meanwhile, will be keen to maintain their unbeaten run at their Chaban Delmas stadium this season.

The western French side are on top of the league, two points ahead of former champions Lyon and Marseille with Rennes a further two points behind, after the Brittany outfit made a surprisingly strong start to the season and are unbeaten after six games.

The chasing pack will be looking for the champions, who could be without midfielder Yoann Gourcuff after he suffered a thigh strain, to trip up.

And Didier Deschamps has ordered his Marseille to focus on Valencienes and not next week’s Champions League tie against Spanish giants Real Madrid despite their league rivals having earned just seven points from six games.

“If my players already have Real at the back of their minds, I’m not going to take that away from them. But I’ll remind them that the priority is the championship,” said Deschamps.

Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda added: “It would be a lie to say that we’re not thinking a little about Madrid. We know that this match is looming but today it’s Valenciennes.”

Lyon coach Claude Puel, meanwhile, has injury worries ahead of his side hosting midtable Toulouse and will be without Argentine striker Lisandro Lopez, Brazilian midfielder Michel Bastos and defender Jean-Alain Boumsong.

And midfielder Kim Kallstrom is expecting a tough test against Toulouse, riding high after coming away with a win from Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League recently.

“Toulouse are very strong and are coming off a very good season,” he said. “They also have a great striker (Andre-Pierre Gignac). We have to watch out for this team.”

Elsewhere fifth-placed Monaco host St Etienne, while Paris St Germain travel to Lorient, while Sunday sees Le Mans host Lens and Nice visit Lille.

Tailenders Grenoble travel to Auxerre, as the Burgundy side bid to kickstart their season after their 3-1 League Cup flop to second division strugglers Sedan.

Saturday (all times 17:00 GMT unless stated)

Auxerre v Grenoble

Lorient v PSG

Monaco v St Etienne

Montpellier v Boulogne

AS Nancy v Sochaux

Valenciennes v Marseille

Lyon v Toulouse (19:00)

Sunday

Lille v Nice (15:00)

Le Mans v Lens (15:00)

Bordeaux v Rennes (19:00)