PSG keep picking up the points, but it’s Marcelo Bielsa’s Marseille who are taking the plaudits after their high-flying, free-scoring start to the season. Going into their meeting on Sunday, they are the only two teams in the French top flight to have the most possession in every game – something’s got to give this weekend.
100% - @OM_Officiel have dominated possession in all of their Ligue 1 games this season, only team in that domain with Paris SG. Selfish.
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 2, 2014
It’s looking like Marseille and PSG will dominate the top two this season, Opta have pulled out some previous head to head statistics when this has been the case in Ligue 1 seasons past.
5 - This will be the fifth time that PSG and Marseille face each other while being 1st and 2nd in Ligue 1. Billing. pic.twitter.com/u1F8BdIJf4
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 6, 2014
This Ligue 1 assists leaderboard makes good reading for Lyon fans as they came back from behind to beat Nice 3-1 to make it four wins in a row, Ligue 1’s best current winning streak. Clinton N’Jie, Jordan Ferri and Alexandre Lacazette have four assists each, with only PSG’s Marco Verratti able to say the same.
More good news for Alexandre Lacazette, as he features in WhoScored.com’s team of the week for his performance in Nice, and he’s also leading the division overall by average rating. Only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals than the Lyon frontman in the top five leagues this season.
GRAPHIC: Ligue 1 Team of the Week - Gameweek 12 pic.twitter.com/r9ttVHUL38
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) November 3, 2014
Finally, the Makélélé role is no more, as Claude lost his job with Bastia on Monday after only two wins in their first 12 matches, and only nine goals in that time period.
16.7% - Claude Makelele won 16.7% of his top-flight games with Bastia, compared to 32.9% for his predecessor Frédéric Hantz. Exit.
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 3, 2014
Here’s how they stand in Ligue 1 after week 12. PSG will be desperate to close the gap against Marseille but if they don’t Lyon and Bordeaux both have a good chance of making up ground with ties against Guingamp and Lens respectively.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marseille | 12 | 17 | 28 |
| 2 | PSG | 12 | 15 | 24 |
| 3 | Lyon | 12 | 14 | 23 |
| 4 | Bordeaux | 12 | 4 | 21 |
| 5 | St Etienne | 12 | 1 | 21 |
| 6 | Nantes | 12 | 3 | 20 |
| 7 | Monaco | 12 | 1 | 18 |
| 8 | Metz | 12 | 1 | 18 |
| 9 | Montpellier | 12 | 0 | 17 |
| 10 | Nice | 12 | -1 | 17 |
| 11 | Rennes | 12 | 0 | 16 |
| 12 | Lille | 12 | -1 | 16 |
| 13 | Reims | 12 | -9 | 15 |
| 14 | Toulouse | 12 | -3 | 14 |
| 15 | Caen | 12 | -1 | 12 |
| 16 | Guingamp | 12 | -12 | 12 |
| 17 | Lens | 12 | -4 | 11 |
| 18 | Lorient | 12 | -6 | 10 |
| 19 | Bastia | 12 | -8 | 10 |
| 20 | Evian TG | 12 | -11 | 10 |
