With nine games to play nothing is yet settled in the French top flight. Paris Saint-Germain are top of the Ligue 1 table but only by a point from RC Lens, while the race for Champions League and Europa places is heating up.
Meanwhile, the pressure is well and truly on for FC Nantes, currently 17th and in a relegation spot, two points behind improving Auxerre who are in the relegation play-off position. But to return to the top end, way back in September, I asked in my SBOTOP review of Ligue 1, ‘Who can stop PSG?’ and the Ligue 1 2026 betting odds suggested the answer was ‘probably nobody!’
I picked out Lyon, Lille, Monaco and Marseille as potential challengers and I completely discarded Lens who, managed by Pierre Sage, are certain to finish higher than their eighth place from the 2024/25 campaign. The experienced forward Wesley Said has scored ten goals as Les Sang et Or has put together a hugely impressive set of Ligue 1 2026 results, matching PSG’s 18 victories; and, with Florian Thauvin, Allan Saint-Maximin and Odsonne Edouard in the front line this is an attack with plenty of punch.
PSG were in Champions League action on Wednesday, and they flexed their muscles with a 5-2 victory over Chelsea. The tie was in the balance at 2-2 until Vitinha scored on 74 minutes, and then Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia unleashed an unstoppable shot from way out and he added a fifth with the last kick of the game.
With Ousmane Dembele coming back to form with eight goals and four assists and Bradley Barcola on ten goals, PSG are still the team to beat , but Lens show no sign of going anywhere just yet and the underdogs don’t have a bad run in. They will take hope from Lille’s surprise title win in 2021.
Titans in a fight for third
Olympique Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais are currently in third and fourth place, locked on 46 points and both suffering from bouts of inconsistency. Marseille went four games without a win but have just recorded back-to-back victories; meanwhile, Lyon won three on the run before going on a three-match winless sequence, with back-to-back defeats and a draw.
Mason Greenwood has resurrected his career in Marseille, after leaving Manchester United under a cloud, and he is top scoring in the league with 15 goals and four assists, and when OM met Lyon at the beginning of the month, veteran striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a brace as Marseille edged a five goal thriller.
Lyon have recovered well from their financial troubles of recent years and have an attacking midfielder in form, in the shape of Czech star Pavel Suic while captain Corentin Tolisso remains hugely influential in midfield. And OL have strengthened up front with the exciting capture of Brazil teenager Endrick, on loan from Real Madrid. The 19-year-old has already scored three goals and is real star quality
Let’s not rule out Rennes, Lille and AS Monaco in the race for fourth. In fact seventh-placed Monaco beat PSG last week to make it five wins from six and they are on the charge. And Rennes have a real eye-catcher of a player in Esteban Lepaul, who has the most non-penalty goals in the league at 13, and he is trailing OM’s Greenwood by just two goals. Rennes have won the last four, while Lille are unbeaten in five league games; So there could be a real rush for the finish line.
Matches to look out for
There will be plenty of twists and turns to come over the next nine rounds and, while PSG and Lens have opened up a ten-point gap over the rest, there is a scurry on the cards between Marseille, Lyon and their three chasers.
So where are the big games coming, those which may define a season and make or break some dreams?
Well there’s a real cracker of a round next weekend, on 22nd March, when four of the main players are thrown together as Lyon host AS Monaco and Marseille welcome Lille. Should both those games end in a home win then the two currently in third and fourth will have strengthened their hands considerably.
On the 5th April there is a South of France battle royal when Marseille take the trip to the principality of Monaco in one of Europe’s most watched clashes. Then two weeks later Paris Saint-Germain will welcome Lyon to the Parc des Princes and that is a match which will affect the title race and the top four tussle.
Into May there is a huge game when Rennes are the visitors to Lyon on the 3rd, and then, on the 16th May, the Brittany hopefuls will visit Marseille, and Rennes fans will hope by then they are still in the hunt for third place.
What a finish we have on that final day when RC Lens will be in Lyon, while PSG are away to Paris FC in the capital city derby. And what a story it will be if the title race is decided in mid May.
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