Lees-Melou, named Get French Football News’ Ligue 1 Player of the Season last year, is yet to feature in the current campaign due to a foot injury. However, Brest manager Eric Roy has confirmed that he is close to making a return in what would be a big boost for Brest. As well as Bradley Locko, perhaps out for the entirety of the season, Julien Le Cardinal is the only other major absentee against Auxerre. He misses out through illness.

Having dropped to the bench against Toulouse FC last weekend, target-man striker Ludovic Ajorque is expected to return to the starting XI, whilst there will also be space in the line-up for Romain Faivre. 

Brest likely lineup v Auxerre

Marco Bizot; Jordan Amavi, Soumaïla Coulibaly, Brendan Chardonnet, Kenny Lala; Romain Faivre, Edimilson Fernandes, Mahdi Camara; Ibrahim Salah, Ludovic Ajorque, Romain Del Castillo. (L’Éq)

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

This is the first time in the history of this competition that three newly promoted Ligue 1 sides find themselves in the relegation zone in the 18-team era.

Between those three sides, they have a combined two wins domestically in 2024-25, with a total of nine goals scored between the three, which is eight fewer than the highest-scoring unit in this competition have alone, Paris Saint-German.

It is the first time in nearly a decade that all three newly-promoted sides are in this position.

The last time this happened was during the 2014-15 Ligue 1 campaign when SM Caen, RC Lens and FC Metz were in the bottom three places by matchday 23.

On that occasion, Caen were the only side of those three to remain in the French top flight beyond that season.

Angers, Saint-Étienne and Auxerre have conceded a combined 36 goals in the league this season, just one fewer than what the top eight teams in the table have given up between them so far.

While things are not looking good for the newly promoted sides right now, history suggests the poor start by all three is not necessarily a death sentence.

Never in the 21st century have we seen every promotional side get relegated in their first season back in the French top flight.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre

L’Équipe reports that Adi Hütter is set to make 5 changes to his team that drew 1-1 with Les Sang et Or before the break in Ligue 1 action. Three of these changes are set to arrive in defence; the only player to keep his place is Kassoum Ouattara. Jordan Teze, Thilo Kehrer and Mohamed Salisu are all set to start against Auxerre. 

In midfield, new signing Lamine Camara is set to replace Soungoutou Magassa who will drop to the bench. Takumi Minamino is set to be demoted to the bench with Alexsandr Golovin promoted to the attacking quadrant selected by Hütter. 

Monaco likely XI vs Auxerre: 

Phillip Köhn – Kassoum Ouattara, Thilo Kehrer, Mohamed Salisu, Jordan Teze – Lamine Camara, Denis Zakaria – Aleksandr Golovin, Eliesse Ben Seghir, Maghnes Akliouche – Breel Embolo. 

GFFN | Liam Wraith

After some big spending in January and then earlier in the summer transfer window, Lyon are desperate to get some players off their books before the closure of the window. Orel Mangala looks set to join Everton, whilst Maxence Caqueret was also offered to the Toffees. However, the player himself wasn’t keen on the deal. 

Rayan Cherki may yet also leave, as may Ernest Nuamah. Diomandé is much closer to the exit door. According to L’Équipe, an agreement has been reached between OL and Auxerre regarding the transfer of the defender. Whilst Les Gones will not receive a fee for Diomandé, they have inserted a 50% sell-on clause into the deal. Last season, the defender made just 10 appearances for Lyon and he has just one year remaining on his deal. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Alexis Claude-Maurice, a free agent since the expiry of his contract at OGC Nice, was one of the key targets, however, according to L’Équipe, Auxerre recently turned towards Bournemouth’s Hamed Junior Traoré (24), who spent the second half of last season on loan at Napoli. The Ivory Coast international, who made 17 appearances for the Serie A side in all competitions last season, has failed to cement a place in the first-team set-up since making the €26m move to England back in 2023. 

Traoré has not featured for the Cherries yet this season, and in the search of game time, he is now on the verge of joining recently-promoted Auxerre on a loan deal, which will not include the option to make the move permanent. Traoré is set to undergo his medical on Tuesday. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Hoeves was previously loaned out to EFL Championship side Stoke City. The Dutch defender played 44 games with the Potters last season. “Auxerre are a very good club and played some really nice football last season which got them back into Ligue 1, but with every newly promoted club, they’re going to face some tough challenges this season if they are to keep their place in that division, and it’s going to be an even bigger test for Ki”, added Wolves’ head of professional football development Matt Jackson.

Auxerre went off to a flyer in defeating INEOS-owned Ligue 1 side Nice at home last Sunday. Hoever might make his debut for the Yonne side this Sunday against FC Nantes.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

Whilst the midfielder, on loan from Bristol City at the time, excelled individually, he could not prevent Auxerre from making the drop down to Ligue 2. Ultimately, he joined Burnley as they returned to the Premier League. However, for the second time in just two seasons, he experienced relegation with the Lancashire club making an immediate return to the EFL Championship.

Having made just two substitute appearances so far this season in the Championship, Massengo could now leave Turf Moor. As per a report from L’Équipe, Burnley and Auxerre are in talks regarding a season-long loan, with Auxerre now back in Ligue 1 and this time hoping to stay there. They got their campaign off to the ideal start with a 2-1 victory over OGC Nice. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Hoever only played 25 games with Wolves, registering one assist. The right-back was loaned out to Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven and EFL Championship outfit Stoke City in the past years. Hoever was not part of the Wolverhampton squad that lost 2-0 away to Arsenal in the Premier League’s season-opener. Auxerre, on the other hand, started the Ligue 1 campaign with a 2-1 home win against INEOS-owned OGC Nice.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

There was little hope for Pierre Sage who had been parachuted into the role of interim manager on the 30th of November from his previous position as head of Lyon’s academy. He had never worked as a first-team coach outside of a 2013 stint in charge of Chambéry SF. And in truth, it seemed obvious that his appointment was little more than a placeholder to tie Lyon over until the Christmas break when they could secure a more experienced name.

However, what occurred next was entirely unexpected as Sage proved to be the perfect man for the role as he expertly averted disaster and oversaw a miraculous resurgence. Under his guidance, the club were radically transformed, the club flew up the table recording a 6th place finish, while also reaching the Coupe de France final (where they lost to Paris Saint-Germain) and securing their place in this season’s Europa League. 

Changing expectations shape Lyon’s summer

Sage’s achievements were rewarded over the summer with a two-year deal to keep him on as the permanent manager, and with the contract came a whole new set of expectations. Sage understood that last season had in many ways represented a free hit, “The hard part for me starts now in the sense that there are now expectations of me but that isn’t a problem.” It is, however, a new challenge for the manager. 

Lyon have set their sights high this season after the promise that was shown in the second half of last year’s strange campaign. The club have invested heavily with the arrivals of Georges Mikautadze and Moussa Niakhaté (bought from FC Metz and Nottingham Forest respectively for a combined fee of €50.4 million) joining the recruits brought in during the winter transfer window. 

The ambition of the owner John Textor has been clear. The American businessman wants to transform Lyon in the long term into a club that is capable of dethroning PSG (and more immediately into a Champions League regular), and this aim has certainly filtered down to the players. Last week, ahead of the season opener, vice-captain Corentin Tolisso declared “The goal of course is to be the highest in the standings… In April or March, I hope to be able to tell you that we are aiming for the podium.”

Lyon brought back to Earth 

After a summer spent dreaming of what this season could produce for a settled Lyon side that had kept most of its core players from their miraculous turnaround, Les Gones were provided with a cruel reality check as they closed out Ligue 1’s opening weekend with a 3-0 loss to Stade Rennais. 

Rennes were exceptional across the 90 minutes and looked the far more cohesive side even though they came into this game after a summer of upheaval with Désiré Doué, Guela Doué, Enzo Le Fée, and stalwart Martin Terrier all leaving the club for pastures new. 

Benjamin Bourigeaud on what was likely his last game for Rennes opened the proceedings with a freekick that took a cruel deflection to trickle past Lucas Perri. Amine Gouiri doubled the score minutes later when he capitalised on Niakhaté’s terrible backpass. It would be an evening to forget for both of Lyon’s big new signings as Mikautadze would go on to miss a penalty in the second half. The game would be put beyond doubt by Henrik Meister a couple of minutes towards the end of the game. 

Clearly there is no reason for Lyon to panic about the result. However, it was disappointing that the club looked so out of sync and could not hit the ground running from the opening game. Work will need to be done ahead of a difficult string of fixtures that will see Lyon play AS Monaco, RC Strasbourg Alsace, RC Lens, and Olympique de Marseille. 

This week’s Ligue 1 subplots

• PSG began their title defence with a 4-1 victory away at Le Havre AC on Friday evening. The goal-fest would represent the first chance to catch a glimpse of the new Mbappé-less project beginning to take shape in the capital. Read the full match report HERE. 

• AJ Auxerre would be delighted if the league ended today. The club sit in fifth place after they defeated OGC Nice 2-1 on their return to Ligue 1 after a year spent in the second division. 
• A flying start for Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille after they recorded a 5-1 victory away at Stade Brestois. Luis Henrique, Mason Greenwood, and Elye Wahi all found themselves on the scoresheet as Les Phocéens now top the league (on goal difference). Read the full match report HERE. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland 

Franck Haise has nowhere near a full squad at his disposal for his first match in the dugout as Nice manager. After having already lost star players Jean-Clair Todibo and Khéphren Thuram, both of whom left earlier in the summer on permanent deals, Haise must also contend with Terem Moffi’s ACL injury. The Nigerian forward is expected to be absent until around February. 

In addition, Tom Louchet, Youssouf Ndayishimiye, Morgan Sanson, and Jérémie Boga will also miss out through injury. Bar Louchet, all would likely have otherwise started. Melvin Bard, the first-choice left-back, also misses out through suspension. Amid the injury crisis, Tanguy Ndombélé is likely to make his debut for Nice.

Nice likely lineup v Auxerre

Marcin Bulka; Dante, Pablo Rosario, Antoine Mendy; Billal Brahimi, Hicham Boudaoui, Tanguy Ndombélé, Jonathan Clauss; Badredine Bouanani, Evann Guessand, Mohamed Ali-Cho. (L’Éq)

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Photo credit: Luke Entwistle