Ligue 1 McDonald’s Matchday 9 preview: PSG face Le Havre as Lille host Lens in northern derby

• League leaders PSG visit bottom-placed Le Havre, while second-placed Rennes travel to Nice on Friday.

• Lille host Lens in the first northern derby of the season, with the hosts having won 10 of their last 11 home league meetings with their rivals.

• Marseille, on a three-match winning run, welcome Toulouse, while Lorient and Brest close the matchday on Monday.

The race for the top spot in Ligue 1 continues this weekend as leaders Paris Saint-Germain travel to struggling Le Havre, while second-placed Rennes face Nice and Lille take on Lens in the first northern derby of the 2026/27 season.

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Matchday 9 will run from Friday, October 30, to Monday, November 2, with nine fixtures scheduled across four days.

PSG lead the standings after eight matches, with Rennes, Lille and Monaco also among the teams hoping to close the gap at the top.

Le Havre face a difficult task as they welcome league leaders Paris Saint-Germain to the Stade CMA CGM Océane.

The hosts are bottom of the table and have lost their last four league matches, conceding 11 goals during that run. They have also gone nine consecutive home league games without a win.

PSG, meanwhile, are enjoying a strong run. They have won their last eight matches in all competitions. The Parisian side have also scored in each of their last 14 away Ligue 1 matches. History also favours the visitors. Le Havre have lost their last five home league matches against PSG.

Second-placed Rennes travel to Nice looking to maintain pressure on PSG at the top of the table. Nice have won three of their last four league matches and will hope to use their home advantage to secure another positive result.

However, Rennes arrive after a convincing 3-0 victory over Strasbourg. Rennes have also scored 43 league goals since head coach Haise's arrival, more than any other team during that period.

The recent head-to-head record makes the contest interesting, with Nice and Rennes alternating victories in their last six league meetings. Nice suffered a 4-0 defeat in their most recent home meeting with Rennes and will be looking to avoid another loss.

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The first northern derby of the season takes place at the Decathlon Arena – Stade Pierre-Mauroy, where Lille host Lens. Lille sit third in the table and have lost only one of their opening eight league matches. They will be confident of extending their strong home record against their regional rivals.

The hosts have won 10 of their last 11 home Ligue 1 meetings with Lens, keeping seven clean sheets in those matches. Lens, however, arrive in good form after winning their last three league games. They have also scored in 15 of their last 16 away matches in the competition.

The visitors will be hoping to end Lille's dominance in this fixture, with their last victory away to Lille coming in April 2022.

Lyon welcome Angers to the Groupama Stadium as they look to strengthen their position in the top five. Lyon have won 11 of their last 13 Ligue 1 matches against Angers and have recorded seven consecutive home victories over them.

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However, the hosts have lost two of their last three league matches after starting the season unbeaten in their first five games.

Angers are 14th and have had an inconsistent campaign. They have won only once in their last 5 league matches, although they ended a difficult run of defensive performances with a goalless draw against Lorient last weekend.

Lyon will be looking to use their strong home record against Angers to return to winning ways.