Paris Saint-Germain's nine-game unbeaten run is set for a stern examination on Saturday when Antoine Kombouare takes his expensively assembled side to league leaders Montpellier.
PSG have not lost since a 1-0 reverse at home to Lorient on the opening day and go into Saturday's game two points behind Montpellier in third place.
They overcame obdurate opposition to beat Nice 2-1 on Wednesday and their all-new forward line of Nene, Jeremy Menez, Kevin Gameiro and record signing Javier Pastore is beginning to click into gear.
A slick interchange of passes involing Pastore, Gameiro and Nene led to the penalty from which Nene broke the deadlock against Nice, with a 71st-minute Gameiro spot-kick securing victory after Fabian Monzon had equalised.
Paris visit Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League next Thursday and holding midfielder Blaise Matuidi, a summer recruit from Saint-Etienne, says his team-mates are ready for the challenges ahead -- starting with Montpellier.
"Now we have a big game against a team full of confidence," said the France international. "There will lots of tests, and this match is one of them."
Montpellier returned to the Ligue 1 summit by winning 3-1 at Ajaccio on Wednesday, with goals from Remy Cabella, Marco Estrada and John Utaka deciding the contest by the 35th minute.
Rene Girard's side will welcome back centre-back Vitorino Hilton and top scorer Olivier Giroud after both were rested in midweek.
Christophe Jallet is suspended for PSG following his sending off against Nice, but Mohamed Sissoko could be named in the squad for the first time since his move from Juventus as Paris chase a first win at Montpellier since 1999.
Lyon host Bordeaux on Saturday, having seen their nine-match unbeaten start to the season ended by a 1-0 loss at Caen on Wednesday.
The result allowed Montpellier to take over top spot and saw Lyon fall into the group of four teams -- alongside Rennes, PSG and Toulouse -- at the front of the chasing pack.
Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris' sending off against Caen, for a foul on Romain Hamouma that allowed Benjamin Nivet to score the winning goal from the penalty spot, means he misses out against Bordeaux through suspension.
"I'm particularly annoyed about Hugo, because he'd had nothing to do before (the foul), nobody troubled him and now he can't play in the next match," said Lyon coach Remi Garde.
"But I'm lucky to have (Remy) Vercoutre as my number two and I have every faith in him."
Yoann Gourcuff and Lisandro Lopez (both ankle) remain sidelined for Lyon, but Garde says he hopes both will be fit for the headline clash at PSG on October 2.
Defending champions Lille, held 1-1 by Bordeaux on Tuesday, have drawn their last three games and are in sixth place ahead of Saturday's visit of seventh-place Lorient.
Dimitri Payet's knee injury means Joe Cole is likely to keep his starting place for Lille, while centre-back Aurelien Chedjou could make the squad after missing the last two games due to injury.
Marseille belatedly recorded their first win of the season with a laboured 2-0 home victory against Evian in mid-week and visit Valenciennes bidding to make up for lost time.
"We're not going to get carried away, but you know as well as I do that there was only one solution for us: winning," said OM coach Didier Deschamps.
"There's still a long way to go."
In-form Rennes, 6-2 winners at Sochaux on Wednesday, tackle Saint-Etienne in Sunday's late game.
Fixtures
Saturday (1700GMT unless otherwise stated):
Evian v Caen, Lille v Lorient, Lyon v Bordeaux, Nice v Dijon, Toulouse v Nancy, Valenciennes v Marseille, Montpellier v Paris Saint-Germain (1900GMT)
Sunday (1500GMT unless otherwise stated):
Auxerre v Sochaux, Brest v Ajaccio, Rennes v Saint-Etienne (1900GMT)
Source: AFP
