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Ligue 1 Preview: Round 14

Due to the rearrangement of the Clasico, there are only nine games in Ligue 1 this week. Friday night's OM-PSG clash gets top billing, but there are a number of mouthwatering ties elsewhere...

Nov 20, 2009 12:00:20 PM

Ligue 1 : Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble) vs Julien Nkoulou (AS Monaco)

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Ligue 1 : Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble) vs Julien Nkoulou (AS Monaco)

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Friday, November 20, 2009 (all kick-off times CET)

21:00 Olympique de Marseille – Paris Saint Germain (Round 10) (full preview)

Saturday, November 21

19:00 Girondins de Bordeaux vs. Valenciennes
19:00 Grenoble Foot38 vs. Olympique Lyonnais
19:00 Racing Club de Lens vs. Nancy
19:00 Stade Rennais vs. Le Mans
21:00 Auxerre vs. Monaco (full preview)

Sunday, November 22

17:00 Nice vs. Toulouse
17:00 Saint-Etienne vs. Lorient
21:00 Montpellier vs. Lille (full preview available Saturday 14:00 GMT)

Olympique de Marseille – Paris Saint Germain

For a full preview of this match, click here…

Girondins de Bordeaux vs. Valenciennes

Qualified in the Champions League and top of Ligue 1, things seem to be running pretty smoothly for Laurent Blanc’s Bordeaux outfit. Their football may not be quite as brilliant as it was at times last season, but the wins continue to flow and the team spirit in their camp looks as strong as ever.

Blanc is likely to field his usual starting XI for the test against Valenciennes, despite a Champions League encounter against Juventus coming up next week. Gregory Sertic is something of a doubt due to illness, while the only injury problem remains Henrique.

Valenciennes have been a side who have been swimming against a strong tide of injury issues this season, but these are slowly starting to clear up. Johan Audel and Mamadou Samassa should both be available, while there is hope that Rafael might also feature. Milan Bisevac, however, is missing due to a fractured foot.

Grenoble Foot38 vs. Olympique Lyonnais

Bottom club Grenoble won their first point of the season before the international break, but things will get little easier for them when the host second placed Lyon at the Stade des Alpes.

With les Gones potentially worrying about a Champions League encounter with Fiorentina next week, GF38 might just have something akin to a window of opportunity. Goals remain difficult to come by for Mehmet Bazdarevic’s men, but their 0-0 draw has boosted hopes they can shock OL. And their injury position has improved, too, with the likes of Danijel Ljuboja and Nicolas Dieuze stepping into contention. David Jemmali is banned.

Lyon’s defensive worries have been eased somewhat by the return of Jean-Alain Boumsong, though Jeremy Toulalan’s absence from France’s World Cup play-off encounters will concern Claude Puel, who also saw Kim Kallstrom toil with flu in midweek. Maxime Gonalons is a new issue, having picked up a minor thigh problem on Under-21 duty – he shouldn’t be out for too long. Aly Cissokho is banned.

Racing Club de Lens vs. Nancy

A victory over Sochaux prior to the international break was a welcome tonic for Lens boss Jean-Guy Wallemme, who has seen his side toil to score goals this season. Indeed, success over les Lionceaux was Lens’ first league win since August and loosens the noose round the coach’s neck just a little.

They tackle Nancy at home on Saturday and should boast virtually a complete squad in doing so. Nenad Kovacevic would appear to be their only doubt as Eduardo returned to training on Thursday. Eric Chelle could play after breaking his nose prior to the break.

Another man to have suffered a broken nose is Nancy's Issiar Dia, who could play wearing a mask. ASNL’s unpredictable start to the season could be regulated a little by the return of a number of players from injury, including first choice goalkeeper Gennaro Bracigliano. Jordan Loties will serve the second of a two match ban and Michael Chretien is still absent.

Stade Rennais vs. Le Mans

Breton club Rennes have fallen drastically in the standings over the last couple of matchdays, really toiling to put their best form together. This has been especially apparent in defence, where they are generally so reliable. However, Frederic Antonetti’s offensive sector has hardly been overwhelming, with injuries to Jimmy Briand, Moussa Sow and Jerome Leroy seemingly taking their toll.

Nevertheless, les Rouge et Noir will start Saturday evening’s encounter as favourites to defeat lowly Le Mans, who only have Grenoble preventing them from propping up the table.

Paulo Duarte’s side have not performed too badly this term on the field, but their results have been weak. A typical example of their play was their 1-0 loss to Auxerre prior to the international break. MUC pushed hard but just could not find a levelling goal. There are no especially concerning injury worries for the Portuguese coach. Geder is banned.

Auxerre vs. Monaco

For a full preview of this match, click here…

Nice vs. Toulouse

An abject start to the league campaign had Aiglons coach Didier Olle-Nicolle within a whisker of losing his job, however, things have been turned around pretty spectacularly at the Stade du Ray in recent times. Amongst their best results of late was a 4-1 home win over Olympique Lyonnais, but their counterattacking style also caught out Paris Saint-Germain immediately before the international break.

With something approaching a settled squad to select from, ‘DON’ will probably not make any great changes to his winning formula, with pace in attack likely to once again be a key aspect of their play.

Toulouse rarely boast an unchanged XI, and with Yohann Pele, Etienne Capoue and Daniel Braaten all banned this weekend, they will once again have to shuffle their pack. Xavier Pentecote will miss around a month’s worth of action due to injury, heaping more pressure on Andre-Pierre Gignac to provide goals on a regular basis.

Saint-Etienne vs. Lorient

When Saint-Etienne have had a full squad to select from, they’ve looked in pretty good touch this season, but too often Alain Perrin’s team have been absolutely decimated by injuries. Indeed, their 1-0 success over Nancy last time out owed much to Jeremie Janot’s excellence in goal.

For the visit of Lorient, les Verts should have something approaching a strong team as the international break has proven a useful pause in which to recuperate their top stars. Blaise Matuidi and Boubacar Sanogo are amongst the players returning, while Loic Perrin, who has had an injury-plagued year, will make another go at coming back. Mouhamadou Dabo remains a key absentee. Yoann Andreu is banned.

Lorient, who showed terrific offensive touch to smash Boulogne-Sur-Mer 5-0 last time out, have few such worries. Christian Gourcuff’s high-fliers are definitely without only Jeremy Morel. Yann Jouffre is also something of a doubt, but he is not an integral member of their side.

Montpellier vs. Lille

A full preview will be available on Saturday 14:00 GMT…

Robin Bairner, Goal.com

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