Lyonnais vs Nice - Home advantage will aid Lyon against Nice in race for second - Christophe Jallet

Defender Christophe Jallet is confident home advantage can see Lyon to victory over Nice and a step closer to the Champions League.

With champions Paris St Germain long since out of sight, the focus in Ligue 1 is on the battle for European qualification, with Lyon leading that race in second place.

They are level on 55 points with Monaco, with Friday's opponents just two behind and Rennes, St Etienne and possibly Lille looking to take advantage of any slip-ups from teams in the current top four.

The head-to-head at Parc OL is the highlight of this weekend's fixtures and Jallet, who on Wednesday signed a contract extension, told olweb.fr: "It's a match which could be very difficult, they are in great form.

"They have exceptional players but also a great togetherness.

"Unfortunately for them, it is at Parc OL, where we have produced great performances. We don't want to let that slip. If we beat Nice, it would be a great step towards European qualification.

"It will be a great match to watch, with excellent players on both teams. Nice will not play as cautiously as many teams, they get the ball forward quickly so we must pay attention and not let them catch us on the counter."

Nice's main threat comes from the rejuvenated Hatem Ben Arfa, who scored all three goals in last week's win over Rennes to take his tally to 16 in the league this season.

"He is an exceptional player, he is a danger," said Jallet of a playmaker who made his professional debut with Lyon in 2004.

"I played against him 10 years ago with Lorient, when he was at Lyon. He has the same qualities today and with his hat-trick at Rennes he is coming here in top form."

Nice coach Claude Puel - also formerly with Lyon - is happy to embrace the role of underdog in the league run-in.

"In this final sprint, there are three European places and we are contenders for those places, along with five other teams," he told his club's website.

"We know it will be very difficult against teams built to be in this position at this stage of the season, like our next opponents who have a bunch of internationals on the bench.

"We are punching above our weight, but we are there in the final few games. We are the outsiders in this race, but of course we are not going to say we want to finish seventh or eighth."

Nice will be without Mathieu Bodmer, Mahamane Traore and Mickael Le Bihan but midfielder Remi Walter is hoping to feature after a recent injury.

Lyon have welcomed Jeremy Morel and Clement Grenier back to training, leaving young forward Aldo Kalulu as their only absentee.