When Paris Saint-Germain and Lille meet at the Parc des Princes on Friday evening, the league leaders face the defending champions, kicking off the weekend’s Ligue 1 action.
The hosts lead by seven points, while the visitors continue to struggle and are in 10th place, 13 points behind their next opponents.
After losing one and drawing one of their last three games, PSG can thank their perfect start to the season for their current lead at the top of Ligue 1.
Mauricio Pochettino’s team lost their perfect record away at Rennes, but they rebounded back after the international break with back-to-back wins over Angers in the league and RB Leipzig in the Champions League, though they had to come from behind in both games.
However, their progress was halted at the weekend as they were held to a goalless draw by Marseille in a game marred by crowd disturbances and VAR rulings.
In both halves, play was halted after bottles were hurled at Neymar as he sought to collect corner kicks, while a pitch invader stopped a PSG attack and grabbed Lionel Messi.
Each side had a goal ruled out by VAR — a Luan Peres own goal for PSG and an Arkadiusz Milik strike for Marseille – and the referee had a laser blasted into his face while consulting with his VAR crew on the decision to send off PSG right-back Achraf Hakimi.
Pochettino will have been irritated by the events and the result, but his anger pales in comparison to that of Lille’s supporters.