Lucien Favre’s extended honeymoon on the Cote d’Azur pits his surprise Ligue 1 leaders Nice against Lorient this weekend, while Lyon host bitter foes Saint-Etienne in the Rhone derby.
Favre, who replaced Southampton-bound Claude Puel in the summer, has overseen a remarkable start to his tenure at the Allianz Riviera with Nice the league’s sole remaining unbeaten side.
“To have 17 points after seven matches is magnificent,” said Favre, following Sunday’s 1-0 victory at Nancy that kept Les Aiglons a point clear of neighbours Monaco.
However, Nice’s domestic success starkly contrasts their faltering form in the Europa League where they have lost their first two group games, the second a 5-2 defeat away to Krasnodar on Thursday.
But Favre, who welcomed back Mario Balotelli from a thigh problem in Russia, will fancy his team’s chances of prolonging their stay at the top in France with Lorient languishing in 17th despite two wins in their last three matches.
The striker has netted a brace in both of his Ligue 1 appearances since his arrival from Liverpool on a free transfer and struck again with a superb long-range effort against Krasnodar before he was withdrawn due to illness.
A squabble over the number of allocated tickets for away fans has stoked tensions ahead of the first meeting between arch rivals Lyon and Saint-Etienne.
Visiting supporters plan to boycott it after authorities restricted Saint-Etienne to just 771 places, considerably fewer than the 2,000 seats in the away section, with Lyon denying accusations of complicity in the decision.
With just one win in their last five outings, Lyon head into the contest trailing Saint-Etienne by two points, and forward Maxwel Cornet is fully aware of the magnitude of the occasion.
“We have to be ready to deliver but I have no doubts about the team’s spirit. I understand what the derby represents here.
Anthony Lopes can’t wait for this match,” Cornet told OLTV, with the Lyon goalkeeper having come up through the club’s youth ranks. “It’s a match that is also close to my heart. It’s up to us to do what we need to do. There’s some revenge to be had after the (1-0 defeat) at Saint-Etienne last season.”

‘Can’t buy confidence’  
Reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain have made a stuttering start to life under Unai Emery, with the French giants indebted to an Edinson Cavani brace that spared them from a potentially embarrassing result against Ludogorets Razgrad in the Champions League.
“It’s not a question of working harder or better because the team is working well. We need confidence,” said Emery, in quotes published by French daily L’Equipe, after his side fought back to claim a 3-1 midweek victory in Bulgaria.
“With that and the quality of the players, we’ll get by. We can’t buy confidence in the transfer market, we have to go and find it.”
Now to see what happens.

Fixtures (all times GMT)
Today
Paris Saint-Germain v Bordeaux (1500), Caen v Toulouse, Dijon v Montpellier, Lille v Nancy, Metz v Monaco, Nantes v Bastia (1800)

Tomorrow
Angers v Marseille (1300), Nice v Lorient (1500), Lyon v Saint-Etienne (1845)