This game should be interesting. Nice have a poor record here in Rennes and had not posted a win in over a decade before winning 3-0 last season, that was their glory season, a fourth placed finish out of nowhere and now normal service has been resumed, they are against in lower midtable, which in terms of budget and size, is perfectly acceptable and back to their usual struggles on the road, with a 1-1-7 record away from home with just three goals scored.

Massive game for the hosts who are bottom of Ligue 1, four points from safety and with three of their next four starts after this evening, on the road, including a trip to leaders PSG.

They showed signs of improvement before the mini break, with a win over Montpellier in the Cup, home point with St Etienne (should have won) and narrow defeat at Marseille , which we previewed.....

Some of you clubgowi free to view content hunters got a bit of a bonus yesterday , as I posted the Friday early newsletter on one of our little used blog pages at midday for "test" purposes and it is on this link if you want to take a look.

Marseille won 3-1, Troyes 3-0 and the "over" in Istres-Nimes was landed 4-2 (three goals inside 36 minutes), which made for another very good day.

Absolutely no love lost between these two clubs and this is far and away the hottest derby in French football. The hosts would love to win this, three points would take them up above the Parisians and into second place, but they just look a level below both PSG and Monaco and although most teams will come away pointless from Dortmund, the level and manner of the 3-0 midweek defeat and earlier home loss to Arsenal, is a clear indication of where they stand in the bigger European picture.

Ligue 1:Sochaux-Lorient

We discussed Sochaux ahead of their recent home match with Bordeaux ....

This is a match the hosts dare not lose, they are just one one point above the drop zone, with the teams either side of them in the table playing each other today and with Les Lionceaux facing a daunting trip to Lille on Friday.

Ligue 1: