Your Guide to Sunday’s Ligue 1 Action

Sunday: Nantes vs St Etienne (13:00 GMT)

Nantes will be aiming to start 2016 on the right foot as they take on St Étienne at the Stade de la Beaujoire on Sunday afternoon. The hosts began the season strongly, but their form faded away as the year went on and subsequently head into this match having failed to win in any of their last seven league outings.

St Étienne, meanwhile, can break into the top four with a win this weekend. They currently find themselves seventh in the standings, but just five points behind second placed Angers, who they beat 1-0 in their last league match before the winter break.

Earlier this season, St Étienne beat Nantes 2-0 at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, with Jonathan Bamba and Robert Beric scoring the goals.

Sunday: Lille vs Nice (16:00 GMT)

Lille can stretch their unbeaten league run to five games against Nice as the two teams meet at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. After an uncertain first few months, Lille found a bit of form under Frederic Antonetti in the weeks heading into the winter break, beating St Etienne, Caen and Lorient. The challenge now is to bring that form into 2016 and start to really climb the table.

Nice, meanwhile, enjoyed plenty of success during the first half of the season, overcoming many teams with their stylish play, and subsequently sit fifth in the table. It remains to be seen whether Claude Puel’s side can retain such a lofty position throughout the rest of the campaign, especially with games against fellow highflyers Angers and Caen to come this later month, so taking all three points this weekend will be a priority.

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Earlier this season, these two sides played out a goalless draw at the Allianz Riviera.

Sunday: Marseille vs Guingamp (20:00 GMT)

In Sunday’s final game, Marseille take on struggling Guingamp at the Stade Velodrome. The hosts head into this match unbeaten in their last six league outings, but remain 11th in the table, largely due to their terrible start to the campaign. Coach Michel knows his side need to kick on if they are to finish in the upper echelons of the table, so anything less than all three points this weekend will not do.

Guingamp may just be the perfect opponents, then, with Jocelyn Gourvennec side currently in freefall. The visitors have lost six of their last seven in the league and are currently second from bottom, albeit just two points from safety. Guingamp need to turn their form around quickly, and could really do with a repeat of the scoreline from the last time these two teams met.

Earlier this season, Guingamp beat Marseille 2-0 at the Stade du Roudourou thanks to goals from Sloan Privet and Nicolas Benezet.

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