1) Lacazette’s injury will show us just how good Lyon are without him.

While their lead over Marseille and PSG was solidified, taking them 4 points clear of Bielsa and Blanc’s men, Lyon have had a serious injury scare this weekend. Their talismanic marksman, arguably the reason for this season’s surprise assault on the top places from Fournier’s men, Alexandre Lacazette suffered an injury which was reported to keep him out of the matches against rivals-elect Monaco and a PSG which is beginning to find its feet. This will invariably mean that the potency of Lyon’s attacking force will depend on young Nabil Fékir, who has been instrumental in his partnership with Lacazette but will have to adapt to playing without him, instead likely to be lining up with fellow academy graduate Benzia, with Clinton N’Jié playing at the Africa Cup of Nations. What Lyon’s fledging group of young players, who have impressed so far, can produce without the spearhead of Alexandre Lacazette remains to be seen, but a fast-improving defensive Monaco and the club from the capital will prove to be the ulitmate test if Lyon want to cement their title credentials.

2) Lucas Barrios is back to his former best .

The former Borussia Dortmund striker, who left the club for China after falling out of favour to the stellar Lewandowski, has undergone something of a rejuvenation since this December. After a fairly underwhelming first few months at Montpellier, the Paraguayan has managed the rare feat of converting all 6 of his shots in the last 6 matches into 6 goals. The title winning era of Giroud and Belhanda may be long gone, but Montpellier’s fantastic form of late which has seen them go within 4 points of Monaco in 5th place, and if Barrios can maintain this form, and indeed the rest of the team, the fans of La Paillade may well be seeing their team consolidate their surprise top 6 place.

3) Marseille need to sort out their recent form.

After a strong start to the season Marseille’s title challenge has hit a barrier in the last few weeks as they yet again failed to capitalise on the opportunity to take 3 points away from a team that is not challenging for the league title. Their 2-1 loss against Nice means that Marseille haven’t won an away game in 8 outings. This should be a huge concern for Biesla, who is trying to develop a team that is fit for the Champions League. A mistake by Mandanda and poor communication between the back four has resulted in Nice’s victory, meaning that Marseille are only second in the league due to scoring more goals than PSG, who they are level on points with. Biesla could use this transfer window to strengthen his team, to keep their title hopes alive and prevent a miserable spring…

4) PSG won, but they still appear to be a mediorce team.

Even though PSG managed in the end to beat a resilient ASSE away, their performance was not up to the standards we were used to seeing last season. Their mediocre display was overshadowed by their 1-0 win, which was thanks to an Ibrahimovic penalty. Despite the win, it was clear to see that the midfield was in need of a serious revamp: Motta is not winning the tackles anymore, Matuidi’s form is tinkering, and Verratti is struggling alone. As we mentioned in the previous article, PSG need to buy an attacking midfielder to assist their two supposedly world class strikers. PSG’s priority should be to use this transfer market to buy a world class midfielders, so that they can keep their title hopes alive and make sure they progress beyond the last 16 in the Champions League. Unless Laurent Blanc rethinks his approach for the remainder of this season, he might not only find his team’s title challenge going up in flames, but ending up in a fight for a Champions place in the 2015/2016 season.

5) Monaco’s defence is saving their season.

After a poor start to the season with full of drab, uninspiring draws Monaco see to have finally found their feet and are building on their overwhelming strength: their defence. What has been a feature of their Champions League run so far, seeing them top the group with only 2 goals conceded, has been incorporated into their league form to great effect. Now standing in 5th place after a fairly uneventful affair over the weekend, peppered by a Dimitar Berbatov goal, Monaco are now expected to find the form which saw them almost push PSG to the end last season. With the capital’s club looking more lackluster by the week, Monaco may even be the ones fly the French flag in Europe, and with such a defence, they may even be a surprise package in the last 16.