Paris Saint-Germain will look to end the year on a high when they host Metz in the Ligue 1. Over the weekend, Luis Enrique’s team was held to a painful 1-1 draw by Lille. Their newly promoted guests lost 1-0 at home to Montpellier HSC.
Preview (Paris Saint-Germain vs. Metz)
The champions of PSG needed a penalty kick from Kylian Mbappe to break the deadlock late. But in an attempt to extend the match, Luis Enrique brought on more players. A PSG substitute unintentionally assisted another Lille replacement in salvaging a point. Four minutes into added time, Jonathan David headed home the equalizer.
Les Parisiens were relieved to see Monaco and Nice fail to take advantage of their missed opportunities. Les Parisiens were possibly suffering from a minor European hangover from their Champions League. They clinched a last-16 draw with Borussia Dortmund in midweek. They were once again left to rue wastefulness in the final third. After winning eight straight games before having to accept a share of the spoils in Lille. PSG’s record stands at 11 wins in the top flight. They lead Nice by five points at the top of the table. After Wednesday’s match is over, they won’t play in Ligue 1 for nearly a month.
With only one clean sheet from their last six games across all competitions, thanks to David’s last-gasp equalizer against Lille on the weekend, PSG will be hosting Metz. However, the champions have won their last five Ligue 1 games at the Parc des Princes, and they have a massive 17 goals from those five games. Montpellier HSC sentenced Les Grenats to their third straight scoreless loss since the beginning of the month.
Team News
Arnau Tenas’s brief time in goal is about to come to an end as PSG’s top goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, is available to be selected again following his two matches in the sin bin following his rightful red card against Le Havre on December 3. A few of the champions’ absences against Lille included Donnarumma’s fellow guardians Sergio Rico (head trauma) and Keylor Navas (back). They also had to deal with the absences of Nuno Mendes (hamstring), Presnel Kimpembe (Achilles), Fabian Ruiz (shoulder), Gonzalo Ramos, and Carlos Soler (both illnesses).
In the brutal festive schedule, Enrique did not hesitate to rotate his pack against Les Dogues, but further changes ought to be made here as Achraf Hakimi, Milan Skriniar, and Randal Kolo Muani provide the XI a breath of new life. Regarding the visitors, Boloni, who did not think twice to sacrifice a handful of players before halftime in the loss to Montpellier, should only be concerned about the health of Oscar Estupinan (hamstring) and Abboubacar Lo (unspecified). Nevertheless, Kevin N’Doram will likely try to replace one of the two.
Paris Saint-Germain 4 – 0 Metz
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