Paris Saint Germain vs Nice - No room for sentiment for Hatem Ben Arfa

Hatem Ben Arfa will put title ambitions ahead of old acquaintances when Paris St Germain face Nice on Sunday.

After drifting into the wilderness towards the end of his spell in England, the forward revitalised his career last season on the Riviera, earned a recall to the France squad and seemingly had his pick of Europe's top clubs in the summer.

PSG were his choice and while he is yet to establish himself in the side - or trouble the scoresheet, outside of the Trophee des Champions win over Lyon - he is looking forward to a big occasion this weekend.

His former club have stunningly marched to the top of Ligue 1, with a once again prolific Mario Balotelli filling the Ben Arfa reclamation project role, with PSG four points back in third.

Ben Arfa told psg.fr: "They are the leaders and even though they are my former club, there is no room for sentiment.

"I am happy I will see some of my old team-mates, and the directors as well. But above all we will be thinking about working hard to achieve our objective of a win.

"I will speak with them, especially after the match. Beforehand I will be 100 per cent concentrated.

"I think it is a game eagerly awaited by all lovers of football. Both teams play good football. We must collect the three points, we need that to improve in the standings and move towards first place."

Midfielders Javier Pastore and Adrien Rabiot will miss the match but Marco Verratti is fit to feature.

Defender Paul Baysse and midfielder Valentin Eysseric miss out for Nice, who also have a doubt over Balotelli after Thursday's Europa League clash with Krasnodar.

Coach Lucien Favre said in a press conference reported by L'Equipe: "It was his first game since November 6 and he had cramp in a calf."

Nice will be travelling to a venue where they have not won since 2009, while PSG have triumphed in the last seven meetings home and away including 3-0 and 4-1 wins last season.

If they are to change those records, Les Aiglons will wish to strike early - they have netted the first goal in 14 of their 16 games this season, and PSG have lost all three matches in which they have conceded first including against Montpellier last week.

Favre added: "We are playing against a team used to playing for the title for several years. I went to watch their (Champions League) game against Arsenal and there are 15 full internationals in their (matchday) squad - and not from Luxembourg or San Marino, no offence to anyone.

"We will go out to play our best. I don't know if it is a good time to play Paris, I am concentrating on my team."