Ligue 1 Previews: Makelele back for PSG
PARIS - Brief news from Ligue 1 before this weekend's matches:
Sixth-placed Paris St Germain welcome back midfielder and captain Claude Makelele after a back injury for Saturday's home game against Caen.
"I resumed training this week after being sidelined for ten days. I'm fine," the former Chelsea player told a press conference.
Bordeaux and France playmaker Yoann Gourcuff misdirected a ball which struck a child who was watching a training session ahead of Sunday's match against Lille.
"The shot was a real missile," eyewitnesses were quoted as saying by local media. "The boy was okay after Yoann cuddled him."
The Olympique Lyon vs St Etienne games are the closest thing to a derby in the French championship as the two towns are only 50 kilometres apart.
Statistics are in favour of Lyon ahead of Sunday's game. The French champions have won seven of the last nine encounters between the two clubs with the other two drawn. They top the table on 42 points while St Etienne are 17th, three points clear of the drop zone.
Stade Rennes and Toulouse, joint fourth on 37 points, will have a chance to claim third place at least for 24 hours as Olympique Marseille, one point ahead of them, will play on Sunday at lowly Sochaux.
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AJ Auxerre will be without defender Jeremy Berthod, sidelined by a recurrent calf injury, for the visit of midtable Lorient on Saturday but should be able to rely on midfielder Thomas Kallenberg, who has recovered from gastroenteritis.