With the European club season about to resume, Paris Saint-Germain will play host to Paris FC in a friendly at the Ooredoo Training Centre on Friday.
Before the World Cup break, PSG had won seven consecutive matches across all competitions, and they now lead Ligue 1 with 41 points. In contrast, the squad representing Paris’s 13th arrondissement is presently in 12th place in Ligue 2 after winning just one of their past three matches.
Paris Saint-Germain vs Paris FC Match Preview
Les Parisiens, in Christophe Galtier’s first season at the helm, have gone undefeated at home in 2022–23, making them one of just two teams in the top five European leagues to do so.
Given the quality of his roster, it’s no wonder that PSG is once again on top of the Ligue 1 table; the club has more points after 15 league games this season than in any of the previous three seasons combined.
Despite conceding two or more goals in two of their previous three games played in Paris, they remain undefeated in their past 28 league matches at home, the greatest streak among the top five European tournaments.
PSG has scored multiple goals in six straight matches across all competitions, and after 15 games in Ligue 1, they have allowed the fewest number of goals against (9).
The previous 25 goals scored by Les Parisiens had all been accounted for by either Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, or Lionel Messi. Since their 4-3 win against Troyes, though, nine players have found the back of the net for them.
Since the beginning of 2022, PSG has shown little compassion for their opponents, scoring five or more goals on nine occasions in all competitions, second only to Bayern Munich’s 10 times this year among European teams.
The 2022-23 Ligue 2 season had not gone as smoothly for Thierry Laurey and his club as the previous year, when they came short of making it to the promotion playoff.
The Blues need to finish in the top two to make the playoffs this season, but they are now eight points behind Bordeaux in third place.
Paris are in a tough spot in the league right now, sitting only five points above the relegation zone. However, they can make significant headway before the end of the year thanks to a pair of home games against clubs currently atop the standings (Pau and Le Havre).
Since beating Quevilly-Rouen by the slimmest of margins on August 6, they have not won a domestic match at Stade Charlety. Playing at a different site in the French capital may alter that.
So far this season, five losses are just three less than Paris had all of 2021-22, and the club is tied for third in the league in fewest goals scored at home this season.
Although they play in a lower division than PSG, their squad has done well against top-flight teams in recent friendlies, losing just one of their previous five.
Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Paris FC Team News
PSG’s last encounter before the World Cup was a 5-0 triumph against Auxerre, with goals from Mbappe, Carlos Soler, Achraf Hakimi, Renato Sanches, and Hugo Ekitike. Gianluigi Donnarumma had his ninth shutout of the season in the victory.
Keylor Navas and Sergio Rico played the 90 minutes in Les Parisiens’ 3-0 friendly win over Urawa Reds in July, while Pablo Sarabia scored in each of his previous two games for the club in Japan.
Fabian Ruiz could miss time with muscular soreness, Danilo Pereira has a fractured rib, and Nuno Mendes won’t play again until early February due to a thigh ailment.
Paris FC defeated Cosne US 2-0 in the Eighth Round of the French Cup thanks to goals from Alimami Gory and Morgan Guilavogui and a shutout from Vincent Demarconnay.
Ivan Filipovic made two saves in their 1-0 win against Bastia in their last domestic away encounter, while Guilavogui has scored in his past three games across all competitions.
Both Samir Chergui and Kouadio-Yves Dabila will be unavailable for the next matches due to red cards they received in their previous games, with Chergui missing the following domestic fixture and Dabila missing the round of 64 match in the French Cup.
In their French Cup encounter against Metz in the eighth round, only Jonathan Iglesias, Guilavogui, and Lebogang Phiri remained from the starting eleven.
- Paris Saint-Germain Predicted Squad: Ramos, Bernat, Donnarumma, Soler, Verratti, Mendes, Vitinha, Ruiz, Sanches, Sarabia, Ekitike.
- Paris FC possible Predicted Squad: Bernauer, Chergui, Filipovic, Lefort, Mandouki, Gory, Hanin, Phiri, Kebbal, Iglesias, Guilavogui.
Paris Saint-Germain vs Paris FC Score Prediction
Expect Galtier’s reserves to come into this match feeling refreshed and energized since he has a large pool of other skilled and enthusiastic people at his disposal. Paris FC will not have to go up against some of Les Parisiens’ best offensive players in this match.