French Ligue 1 - Monaco v Nice
Sep 23While it's difficult to look beyond a formidable Paris Saint-Germain side defending their Ligue 1 title, there are many interesting sub-plots throughout the rest of the division.
This weekend saw Troyes kick things off against Auxerre in the Derby de la N77 on Friday night as Bruno Irles' men saw their winless run stretch to six games following a 1-1 draw.
Paris Saint-Germain will aim to make it four league victories on the bounce when they travel to Lorient at midday on Sunday, with Lens looking to keep the pressure on the capital club by beating bottom-of-the-table Angers the day before.
Matchday 14 rounds off with Lyon visiting Marseille looking to make it six games unbeaten against L'OM.
Let's get into the key storylines ahead of the action.
Can Lyon prolong Marseille's awful run?
The season had started so promisingly for Marseille as they began to be talked about as title contenders following 23 points in nine games, putting them right on PSG's tail.
However, a subsequent defeat to the champions, either side of losses to Lens and newly promoted Ajaccio, put an end to those ambitions, and last weekend saw Igor Tudor's side throw away a two-goal lead in the latter stages at Strasbourg.
Along with their domestic woes, L'OM finished bottom of their Champions League group in midweek following Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's last-gasp winner for Tottenham at the Stade Velodrome, which came hot on the heels of a 2-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt.
On the other side of the fence, new Lyon head coach Laurent Blanc spent two years at Marseille as a centre-back between 1997 and 1999 and has enjoyed a positive start at his new club, responding to a 3-2 defeat against Rennes in his opening outing in the dugout by masterminding wins over Montpellier and Lille.
Les Gones were forced to bring in Blanc after predecessor Peter Bosz oversaw four straight league losses - their worst run since 1991 - and despite stopping the rot against Toulouse, a 1-1 draw was not enough to convince the board that he should stay at the helm.
One player who looks rejuvenated is Alexandre Lacazette, who has bagged four of the five goals under Blanc so far, including the winners in the last two matches.
This rivalry stems more from the clubs' historic clash for titles rather than very recent encounters, but the fixture still captures the attention in France and will be a compelling spectacle.
Can Mbappe maintain ridiculous run?
The stories about Kylian Mbappe's unhappiness with the PSG board don't appear to be affecting his on-field displays as the 23-year-old once again showcased his extraordinary talent with a stunning solo strike against Juventus.
The Frenchman has 18 goals in as many games across all competitions so far in 2022/23 - the best figures in his career at this stage of any season - and has netted six times in his last four matches.
While upcoming opponents Lorient began the campaign in unexpectedly incredible fashion, two points from their last three games have seen them drop to fourth.
Mbappe has scored three times in his previous five meetings with Les Merlus - don't put it past him to add a couple more on Sunday.
Bottom side can't look back in Angers
Back-to-back wins in September for struggling Angers proved to be a false dawn as Gerald Baticle's men have gone on to lose their following five matches.
It's hard to see that winless run ending against Lens on Saturday evening, with the northern French side sitting pretty in second - five points off PSG - as they continue their remarkable rise under Franck Haise.
Despite not being extremely prolific, Lens will fancy their chances against the division's worst defence after beating Toulouse 3-0 thanks to a hat-trick from Lois Openda, who has made a good impression in new surroundings since joining from Club Brugge in the summer.
The home faithful can draw some comfort from the fact that their side do have the capacity to cause teams problems, but the Black and Whites will need their opponents to be decidedly off-form in order to have any hope of securing a result.
