Paris St-Germain winning run shows gulf between the best and the rest in France

1 PSG expected to eclipse proud Spurs record
Paris Saint-Germain are poised to break yet another record and it’s no surprise that Lille will be guests at the celebrations.

It’s top versus second in Ligue 1 at the Parc des Princes although you wouldn’t think so given the odds of just 2-9 about the hosts, an ample illustration of just how wide the gulf is between the champions and even their supposed nearest rivals.

Victory for Thomas Tuchel’s side would be their 12th in a row at the start of the season, eclipsing the 11 wins that Spurs chalked up at the beginning of the 1960-61 First Division campaign, the previous best from one of Europe’s big five leagues.

And Lille have been makeweights in Parisian record-breaking before. In 2013-14, PSG’s win at Lille in the penultimate match of that season saw them set the record for most points and most wins in a Ligue 1 season.

2 Brave Hearts hoping to avenge cup thrashing
There’s also a top-two battle in Scotland where Celtic take on Hearts, although surprisingly that it’s the Jambos rather than their opponents who are setting the pace in the Ladbrokes Premiership.

Hearts will stay at the summit whatever the result as they have a four-point cushion over Brendan Rodgers’ champions. However, they have good grounds to be worried just a week after they were thrashed 3-0 by Celtic in their Betfred Cup semi-final at Murrayfield.

Since then Hearts have dropped another couple of points in a fiery and controversial Edinburgh derby while Celtic crushed Dundee 5-0, a fourth straight league win that confirmed they are still very much the team to beat.

Not that the layers ever doubted it. Even when Celtic were languishing in sixth spot after a shock loss at Kilmarnock in September they were no bigger than 1-3 for an eighth straight title.

3 Potters face Pulis in congested Championship
The Sky Bet Championship looked brutishly difficult to call in August and little has happened over the first 15 matches to suggest the promotion fight won’t be going down to the wire.

Heading into this round of fixtures, just nine points separated first from 14th in the table. Blackburn in 12th have lost fewer games than leaders Sheffield United while Brentford in 16th boast the same goal difference as Norwich in fourth.

A high quota of draws – 56 from 180 matches throughout the division, or 31 per cent, with every team having drawn at least twice – has also kept the pack jammed together.

Among the eye-catching matches this weekend is Stoke, enjoying better fortunes after a dismal start, at home to Middlesbrough.

That means Tony Pulis going back to a club where he enjoyed his finest days in management although it’s doubtful his reception will be quite as warm as the one Derby boss Frank Lampard revelled in at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

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