Paris Saint-Germain begin the defence of their Ligue 1 title with a trip to Lille on Friday evening.
For the home side, who were champions in 2011, they will head into the encounter with aspirations of challenging for a place in Europe this time around.
Lille
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There has been something of a revolving door at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy this summer.
In May the club confirmed the appointment of head coach Herve Renard, who earlier in the year had guided the Ivory Coast to glory in the Africa Cup of Nations. The 46-year-old will not look back on his previous experience of managing in Ligue 1 too fondly, having been unsuccessful in his quest to keep FC Sochaux up in 2014.
One thing is for sure, Renard has not been shy as far as the transfer market is concerned. No fewer than eight players have arrived, while 12 have departed. Some of those exits have been big names, including Simon Kjaer and Nolan Roux, while Divock Origi and Marco Lopes have returned to their parent clubs.
Such a high turnover of players could well have an impact on consistency on the pitch - something that has been highlighted during pre-season.
Of their six friendly encounters, Herve's men have won three matches, drawn twice and lost once. The defeat was a heavy one, with Belgian side Lokeren running out 4-1 winners three weeks ago.
Last season, Lille finished in eighth spot, but they were able to boast a positive home record. From their 19 outings, they won 11 of them and lost on just three occasions. During that time they shipped 12 goals - a record that only Lyon, Monaco and Saint-Etienne could better.
Recent form: WLWWDD
PSG
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The Parisians may have won the last two Ligue 1 titles, yet there always seems to be speculation surrounding Laurent Blanc's job.
To the 49-year-old's credit, he has dealt with the pressure well, including during this summer as his side have been in impressive form over in the USA.
They beat the likes of Fiorentina, Benfica and Manchester United, while Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw, although the English side did win the subsequent penalty shootout. Nevertheless, they were still crowned the winners of the International Champions Cup, with striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic finding the net on three occasions. That was then backed up by a 2-0 win over Lyon in the Trophee des Champions, which is France's equivalent of the Community Shield.
On the transfer front things have been relatively quiet, but that is likely to change soon. Benjamin Stambouli has arrived from Tottenham Hotspur, but the one all PSG fans will be waiting for is Angel di Maria, who has undergone a medical ahead of his reported £45m switch to the French capital from Manchester United.
It will be intriguing to see where Blanc decides to include the Argentina international within his starting lineup. With the likes of Marco Verratti, Blaise Matuidi, Javier Pastore, Lucas Moura, Edinson Cavani, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Ibrahimovic already in situ, Di Maria's presence is likely to be put at least one high-profile player's nose out of joint.
They finished last term on an 11-match winning streak and with such a strong squad to select from, Blanc and his players could well have their eyes fixed on Bordeaux's record, which stands at 14 games.
Recent form: WWWDWW
Team News
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He may have been in good goalscoring form during pre-season, but Ibrahimovic will play no part against Lille.
The Swede, who has been linked with a switch away from the Parc des Princes, suffered knee ligament damage during the outing against Lyon, with the full extent of the injury yet to be revealed.
In his absence Cavani should play as a lone centre-forward, potentially flanked by Lavezzi and Brazilian wideman Lucas. Even if the deal for Di Maria is concluded soon, it is unlikely that he will feature.
Meanwhile, at right-back Serge Aurier is expected to be preferred to Gregory van der Wiel, while David Luiz should partner Thiago Silva at the heart of the defence.
As for the home side, they will be captained by midfielder Rio Mavuba, with Nigerian international Victor Enyeama between the posts.
Lille possible starting lineup:
Enyeama; Corchia, Amadou, Civelli, Sidibe; Balmont, Mavuba, Obbadi; Boufal, Guirassy, Bautheac
PSG possible starting lineup:
Sirigu; Aurier, Luiz, Silva, Maxwell; Verratti, Pastore, Matuidi; Lucas, Lavezzi; Cavani
Head To Head
It would be fair to assume that Lille do not tend to enjoy their meetings with the club from the capital.
Of the last 38 encounters, Les Dogues have emerged victorious just five times, with PSG having celebrated wins on 25 occasions.
In April, Lille were on the wrong end of a 6-1 scoreline as Lavezzi helped himself to a hat-trick, while the game earlier in the season ended in a 1-1 draw.
You have to go back to April 2012 - eight matches - to locate Lille's last win over PSG. Pastore gave the visitors the lead, but the home side hit back thanks to goals from Eden Hazard and the recently-departed Roux.
We say: Lille 0-2 PSG
The first few games of a new campaign will often see teams blow away the cobwebs, but PSG have been in such good form during pre-season, it's difficult to see them not being up to speed for this encounter. In contrast, there are plenty of new faces at Lille and being up against an established side so early in the season, a shock win looks highly unlikely.
Liam Apicella
