Paris St Germain and Rennes both have the chance to make up ground on Ligue 1 leaders Lille when they meet on Saturday.
Antoine Kombouare’s PSG side are in second place in the league, four points behind Lille, and with the leaders not due to play until Sunday a win would cut the gap to just one point.
But Kombouare’s men will not have an easy appointment against a Rennes outfit just three points behind them in fourth place.
Rennes will be keen to rebound from their 5-1 mauling at the hands of Sochaux in their last league start – as well as their Coupe de France elimination to Reims on Tuesday.
PSG striker Guillaume Hoarau will be looking to continue his fine recent form, with the 26-year-old scoring a hat-trick in his side’s 4-1 win over Martigues in the cup on Wednesday to bring his season tally to 16 goals.
Lille will aim to maintain their lead at the top when they travel to the Stade Abbe-Deschamps to take on Auxerre on Sunday.
Auxerre have struggled this season with just four wins for the campaign, and even with a home ground advantage, they will be hard pressed to beat a Lille outfit which has not lost for more than two months.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Marseille could climb to third if they can beat bottom side Arles at home, as could Montpellier should they account for seventh-placed St Etienne.
Lens will be looking to climb out of the relegation zone when they welcome Valenciennes to the Stade Felix-Bollaert , and Caen will be keen to put some breathing space between themselves and the drop zone when they take on 12th-placed Lorient at home.
Brest are winless from their past six games and will be looking to reverse that form when they play host to Nancy and Sochaux will hope to bounce back from their shock cup exit to French amateur side Chambery on Wednesday when they travel to Nice.
On Sunday, surprise relegation strugglers Monaco will look to haul themselves out of the bottom three with a win at Toulouse and third-placed Lyon can close the gap on the top two when they welcome Jean Tigana’s Bordeaux side to the Stade de Gerland.