Olympique Lyonnais - SM Caen  (15:00CET)

>> MATCH PRESS KIT

After seven consecutive Ligue 1 title wins, OL have gone three seasons without adding to their tally of French championships. Though they currently lie fourth in the table - and have not been lower than sixth all season long - Rémi Garde's men saw their title ambitions take a blow with last weekend's 2-2 draw at fellow challengers Olympique de Marseille. The outcome could have been still more damaging for OL had they not dug sufficiently deep to claw their way back from 2-0 down to earn a point and keep themselves ahead of their opponents in the race for the title.

"It's a good draw, but one that does leave us harbouring a few regrets. My team has character, but we were lacking a little something to win it. But it's still a point more. That's important ahead of the big games that we've got coming up in the Champions League," said Garde, whose team play host to APOEL Nicosia in the first leg of their Last 16 tie on Tuesday night. The ex-Arsenal midfielder's mood was darkened somewhat by wins for leaders Paris Saint-Germain and second-placed Montpellier Hérault SC that saw his team cut ten and seven points adrift of the lead duo respectively. "This draw doesn't do much for either side," he conceded.

A similar result against Caen would do even less, though such a scenario is unlikely given OL's imperious home form - only the top two have registered more points on their own turf this season - while only Montpellier and LOSC Lille Métropole have scored more times than Garde's squad in front of their own fans. OL have generally been prolific both home and away, though their leakiness at the other end may provide a glimmer of hope for the struggling visitors, whose hold on the relative safety of 17th place is fragile given they hover merely a point above the bottom three. The wintry chill that has gripped France led to Caen's Week 22 encounter with AJ Auxerre being postponed, and means Franck Dumas' side should at least be in good physical if not necessarily psychological shape to take on OL.

FRAU RETURN

A winless run of eight league matches during which only two points have been garnered hardly bodes well, however, and even the return of fit-again former OL striker Pierre-Alain Frau may not be enough to help a goal-shy attack find the net for the first time in four league games. "It's frustrating that we haven't been able to maintain our form. We've not lost the qualities that allowed us to progress to the win against Dijon in November, but it's as if the little things that make the difference are no longer going for us. We have to keep working, it'll come," said Frédéric Bulot, whose club last recorded a Ligue 1 win in their Week 13 fixture with Dijon, a result that left them ninth in the table.

"Everyone wants to pull in the same direction, whether you play a lot or not, whether it be the oldest or the youngest member of the squad, whether you're at the end of your contract or not. You have to think about the club, and try and find that little spark."

Dumas tried to do that in employing a new tactical system in his side's last outing at Toulouse in Week 21, but having returned to Normandy nursing a 1-0 defeat, the ex-ASM Monaco defender is unlikely to be tempted to do so again. However, he can point to his team's three-match unbeaten run (2 wins) in the last season-and-a-half against OL as a reason why he and his players can upset the odds.

 >> STATS: Head-to-head