There were no big surprises in the opening match day of the French Ligue, as all favourites claimed victories. Will anything change this weekend?

Friday

Reims - Lyon

Both teams have lived up to expectations by starting off with victories. Reims, who had returned to the elite after two seasons in Ligue 2, even created a small surprise by winning at Nice. Last season, they won the second division with 15 points clear of the runners-up Nimes, so now they hope to carry that form over to the Ligue 1.

However, beating Lyon will be hard even at home. Last week, Les Gones comfortably started the campaign by defeating Amiens (2:0). Bertrand Traore and Memphis Depay demonsatrated their fire power again, and in Reims, they are likely to play alongside Nabil Fekir. The World Cup winner missed the first match as he was not fully fit, but now he seems to be ready to play. 

Saturday

Guingamp - PSG

Head coach Thomas Tuchel and the famous Gianluigi Buffon have made a successful debut in Ligue 1, as PSG beat Caen 3:0 in the opening round of matches.

The Paris side featured a number of teenage talents in that game, as some key players including Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani were missing. And while the Uruguayan, who is still recovering from an injury, is sidelined for the match at Guingamp,  Mbappe is likely to make his comeback.

Guingamp, who will face a hard task on Saturday, has recently added Ronny Rodelin to their squad. The striker joins from Caen and actually was a unused sub in their last-week match against PSG. Will he face the Paris giants now? 

Amiens - Montpellier

Caen - Nice

Dijon - Nantes

Monaco - Lille

By beating Nantes 3:1 in the opening round, Monaco partly redeemed themselves for the 0:4 defeat against PSG in the French Supercup. The renewed principality team showed a nice face, and while the experienced Radamel Falcao and Stefan Jovetic confirmed their ability to score, the young signing Samuel Grandsir did a good job in the build-up.

Lille also left a god impression last weekend, beating Rennes with the same 3:1 score. With the experienced summer signings Loic Remi and Jose Fonte still to join the team, it will be hard for the team to claim points at Monaco - yet nothing is impossible. 

Rennes - Angers

Sunday

Strasbourg - St. Etienne

Toulouse - Bordeaux

While both sides are looking forward to claim their first points in the season, Bordeaux are also facing an internal crisis. The club management suspended the head coach Gustavo Poyet for one week "with a view to an eventual sacking" for his critical words towards the club at a recent press conference. Eric Bedouet is expected to take charge of the team during the match in Toulouse. 

Nimes - Marseille

Nimes, who returned to the elite after 25 years, showed spirit and commitment in their match against Angers. Being 1:3 down 15 minutes from time, they managed to turn things around and win 4:3. Teams promoted to Ligue 1 after a long absence usually have a hard time on top level, but Nimes' mental strength should hope them to do well.

Their next game should be quite exciting, as Marseille also scored four goals last weekend, smashing Toulouse (4:0). Dimitri Payet, who missed the World Cup due to an injury, has an extra motivation to do well, and he scored twice last week. Unlike him, Florian Thauvin was in France's gold-winning squad, and he also took part in the last-week match, scoring a goal after coming on as a substitute.