LYON - LENS

(kick-off at 21:00 CET on Wednesday)

OL top scorer Karl Toko Ekambi, who has netted nine times in the league this season, is missing having tested positive for Covid-19. Midfielder Bruno Guimaraes is another coronavirus absentee, while centre-half Marcelo is suspended and Moussa Dembélé is a medium-term loss with an arm problem.

"I'm not expecting to lose Memphis Depay"

Garcia said: "There are lots of solutions for replacing Karl, like starting Rayan Cherki or moving Houssem Aouar or Maxwel Cornet further forward. This transfer window it would be good to keep the squad together as it's working well. Jean Lucas should be loaned out but I'm not expecting to lose Memphis Depay. I'm quite calm. There are contracts, so there are no particular problems."

Lyon hit top spot on December 23 following their 3-0 victory at home to Nantes, a result that extended the unbeaten sequence for Garcia's side to 14 league matches, with nine wins in that run. It is OL's longest unbeaten run in the top division since going 23 without a loss between April and December 2005, and OL head into Round 18 ahead of LOSC on goal difference.

Garcia commented: "It's the first time we've been top of the table. I prefer to be hunted as that means we are in front of everybody. I hope that it will give even more desire to the players to hand onto the position. We need to obtain a better result on Wednesday than Lille manage."

Last season's Champions League semi-finalists are wary of the threat posed by promoted Lens, who are an impressive seventh in the table and won at both Rennes and Monaco in December. Garcia, who coached LOSC to the 2011 title, said: "It will be a difficult match to win. We've watched Lens closely. They deserve to be where they are in the table. They have a playing system that is unique to them. They have talent with somebody like Kakuta. We'll need to show all our determination in order to win the game. We want to start the year on the right foot."

Haise: "Lyon deserve to be top of the table"

Garcia's Lens counterpart Franck Haise said: "Lyon deserve to be top of the table. Maybe playing less than Lille or Paris has given them a bit of freshness. When you look at the statistics after 17 games, they deserve to be where they are. They have a lot of individual and collective ability.

"If we keep playing the way we have in the first six months of the season then I know we're going to keep picking up points and keep causing our opponents problems. My main ambition of staying up hasn't changed and while we haven't secured enough points to achieve that, the mission won't change."

Probable teams:

Lyon: Lopes - Dubois, Diomandé, Denayer, De Sciglio - Paqueta, Thiago Mendes, Aouar - Kadewere, Deopay (c), Cornet

Lens: Leca - Gradit, Badé, Fortes - Clauss, Cahuzac (c), Fofana, Boura - Kakuta - Sotoca, Ganago