Ligue 1 leaders and defending champions Bordeaux meet second-placed Montpellier on Sunday as the newly-promoted southern club eye an unlikely rise to the top of the French championship. Both sides are level on 51 points although Bordeaux have two games in hand over Rene Girard's men, who are back in France's top flight for the first time in five years. The Montpellier manager conceded his team are unlikely to steal Bordeaux's league crown but warned his opposite number Laurent Blanc to expect a stern test when they meet at the Girondins' Stade Chaban Delmas. 'Since the start of the season, I've said Bordeaux are my favourites to win the title and I think they will be champions,' said the 55-year-old manager, who spent eight years at the six-time league winners as a player. 'When you look at the two teams, one has a lot of experience with players used to playing in the Champions League, while we have a group of young players who still have a lot to learn.' 'But saying 'It's the taking part that counts' is not really my thing...we will come to Bordeaux with the aim of taking first place.' Girondins midfielder Gregory Sertic told his club's official website that Bordeaux go into the match as clear favourites. 'We beat them in the first match (this season), why can't we beat them in this game? We've got the strongest hand,' the 20-year-old said. Fellow title challengers Lyon travel to relegation-threatened Boulogne aiming to continue their unbeaten league run in 2010. Lyon's assistant manager Patrick Collet stressed the clash with the 19th-placed side is 'a big game.' 'It will be more difficult for us than both sets of supporters think,' he said. A number of Lyon players have returned from midweek international duty and stars such Miralem Pjanic and Kim Kallstrom have just two days to train before the trip to northern France. 'There is always a physical and psychological fatigue (when returning from international games),' said Collet. 'Boulogne will be anything but a formality.' Crisis-hit Paris Saint-Germain, currently in 12th place, will travel to Lens as they look to bounce back from their 3-0 thrashing at the hands of long-time rivals Marseille last weekend. The capital club's image has been marred in recent weeks by a fresh wave of violence amongst factions of hardcore supporters and PSG officials are so worried about further trouble that they have cancelled travel for away fans. Fourth-placed Marseille, meanwhile, take on ninth-placed Lorient at the Stade Velodrome but former Manchester United and Real Madrid defender Gabriel Heinze will miss the game with a cracked right fibula. In the weekend's other games, basement side Grenoble meet 18th-placed Le Mans, while fellow relegation strugglers Nice host Nancy. Tenth-placed Rennes welcome seventh-placed Monaco, while Valenciennes travel to Auxerre. Sochaux meet Toulouse on Saturday with both teams missing their star strikers. Sochaux's US forward Charlie Davies is still recovering from a car crash, while French international Andre-Pierre Gignac has just returned to training after an abductor injury. Fixtures Saturday (1800GMT unless otherwise stated) Auxerre v Valenciennes, Boulogne v Lyon, Lens v Paris Saint-Germain, Nice v Nancy, Rennes v Monaco, Sochaux v Toulouse, Saint-Etienne v Lille (2000GMT) Sunday (1600GMT unless otherwise stated) Grenoble v Le Mans, Marseille v Lorient, Bordeaux v Montpellier (2000GMT) 