The international break is finally over! Club football returns this Friday, with Ligue 1 being one of the first top European league to resume the 2021/22 season after the near two-week pause.
And to make things more exciting, France's top club kicks off Matchday 10 in the French top-flight, with PSG getting things underway with their 3 p.m. ET home clash with Angers. This is the only fixture scheduled for Friday, with the remaining nine ties set to be held over the weekend.
Two of those nine will take place on Saturday, with Lille, Lyon and Monaco all taking to the field on October 16 – yes, two of these three top sides will face off in this round, but more on that later. Sunday's round of fixtures commences quite early, with Nice taking on Troyes at 7 a.m. ET in the first kick-off; with Marseille, Lens, and Lorient taking to the field later that day.
Will PSG see their lead at the top get slashed once again? Will Marseille return to winning ways or lose for the third straight time? Will Lyon and Lille close the gap on the top four? Here's everything you need to know about Matchday 10 in Ligue 1.
Ligue 1 standings ahead of Matchday 10
| Pos. | Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | P | Form | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PSG | 30 | 20 | 9 | 1 | 73 | 26 | +47 | 69 | WWDWW | |
| 2 | Monaco | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 56 | 38 | +18 | 58 | WWWWD | |
| 3 | Brest | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 44 | 29 | +15 | 53 | LLWWD | |
| 4 | Lille | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 43 | 26 | +17 | 52 | LWWWD | |
| 5 | Nice | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 33 | 24 | +9 | 48 | DWDLW | |
| 6 | Lens | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 39 | 32 | +7 | 46 | WLDLL | |
| 7 | Rennes | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 44 | 36 | +8 | 42 | WLLLW | |
| 8 | Olympique Marseille | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 45 | 37 | +8 | 41 | DDLLL | |
| 9 | Olympique Lyonnais | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 39 | 49 | -10 | 41 | LWWDW | |
| 10 | Reims | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 37 | 41 | -4 | 40 | LLDDW | |
| 11 | Toulouse | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 36 | 39 | -3 | 37 | DWDWL | |
| 12 | Montpellier | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 38 | 42 | -4 | 36 | WDWWL | |
| 13 | Strasbourg | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 33 | 41 | -8 | 36 | LWDWW | |
| 14 | Nantes | 30 | 9 | 4 | 17 | 28 | 48 | -20 | 31 | LWLWL | |
| 15 | Metz | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 31 | 49 | -18 | 29 | WWLLL | |
| 16 | Le Havre | 30 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 27 | 38 | -11 | 28 | LLDLL | |
| 17 | Lorient | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 36 | 59 | -23 | 26 | LLLLD | |
| 18 | Clermont | 30 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 21 | 49 | -28 | 22 | LDDLW |
Top games to watch on Matchday 10 in Ligue 1
PSG vs Angers: The league leaders kick things off on Friday in what should be an interesting showdown. Normally, it would be safe to bet on Les Parisiens comfortably beating Angers; however, this season, the visitors have been nothing short of impressive and thus stand a great chance of upsetting Pochettino's side. The Black and Whites have lost only one game this entire season, and while four of their nine outings have ended in draws, their form so far has earned them the fourth spot, which they will fight to retain.
As for the table toppers, they head into this clash on the back of their first defeat of the campaign. The Paris outfit suffered a shock 2-0 loss to Rennes right before the international break and will thus be keen on returning to winning ways. Unfortunately for Pochettino, he will have to do this without his South American contingents as they will be in action for their national teams the day prior to this fixture.
Lyon vs Monaco: Should results elsewhere go in their favor, any of these two clubs could break into the top four this weekend. However, only the victor can achieve this, hence the importance of Lyon's clash with Monaco. After a rough start to the season, both sides have made progressed and have since recovered. Les Gones are unbeaten in their last four fixtures and despite sitting in 10th, Bosz's men are only three points behind fourth-placed Angers. It should be noted that Lyon are in for a tricky month, with the French outfit also set to face third-placed Nice, second-placed Lens, and fifth-placed Marseille between now and the end of November, meaning they cannot afford a slip-up against Monaco.
As for the visitors, they are on a three-game winning run and will thus be keen on maintaining this streak. Who will win this fixture? Tune in on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET to find out the answer.
Marseille vs Lorient: Jorge Sampaoli's side started the campaign in great fashion but after a run of poor results, Marseille appear in danger of falling further behind in the table. With two defeats and a draw from their last three league games, Les Phocéens are in dire need of the three points. Unfortunately, their opponents this weekend will be Lorient, Ligue 1's seventh-placed team, who should offer the home side a stern test in their bid to return to winning ways.
Who's in and who's out
Here are the list of players ruled out for the upcoming round from Ligue 1's top clubs:
PSG: Sergio Ramos and Juan Bernat (injured); Neymar, Lionel Messi, Marquinhos, Angel Di Maria, Keylor Navas, and Leandro Paredes (unavailable)
Monaco: Aleksandr Golovin, Djibril Sidibe, Sofiane Diop, Aurelien Tchouameni
Lyon: Moussa Dembele and Anthony Lopes (out); Islam Slimani, Lenny Pintor, and Jeff Reine-Adelaide (doubtful)
Lille: Leo Jardim, Reinildo, Burak Yilmaz
