One of the hottest clubs in Europe right now can match their longest winning run in Ligue 1 from the 2021-22 campaign as Paris Saint-Germain host Nantes on Saturday at the Parc des Princes.
The league leaders began the month of December by winning a seventh successive domestic fixture, 2-0 over Le Havre, while La Maison Jaune were 1-0 winners against Nice, handing the Southern French side their first defeat in the top-flight this season.
Match preview
© Reuters
Even down a man like they were last weekend for the bulk of that encounter, PSG have been difficult to knock off, as they handled Le Havre and increased their unbeaten run to four matches in all competitions.
It was their seventh consecutive domestic victory, the most for this club since winning 10 in a row from May-September 2021, while their current winning run in the league is the second-longest in the big five European leagues this season, behind Bayer Leverkusen, who saw their run of eight straight wins in the Bundesliga end last week.
Luis Enrique's men have notched a league-high 36 goals, outscoring their last four Ligue 1 opponents at home by a margin of 15-2, posting three clean sheets along the way.
While they are four points clear of second-place Nice atop the table, PSG have collected five fewer points after 14 top-flight fixtures this season compared to 2022-23.
PSG have won four of their previous five fixtures versus Nantes across all competitions, scoring three or more times in each of the last three encounters against them, all of which were victories for the reigning Ligue 1 champions.
When scoring first in the top flight this season, PSG have never lost, with their only defeat of the domestic campaign occurring at the Parc des Princes in mid-September (3-2 loss to Nice) when conceding the opener.
© Reuters
Despite sustaining the bulk of the pressure last Saturday, Jocelyn Gourvennec began his managerial tenure successfully, with Nantes ending a four-match winless run in this competition.
Les Canaris are up to eighth in the table, currently on 18 points, six more than they accumulated at this same stage of the 2022-23 Ligue 1 campaign.
Nantes have earned four points domestically so far this season when they have either scored or conceded the opening goal in a game.
The biggest issue which Gourvennec needs to fix is the defensive frailties of this club, with La Maison Jaune conceding the second-most goals in Ligue 1 thus far (23).
They are undefeated domestically in 2023-24 when netting multiple times in a single match, though they have only claimed one victory this season when allowing more than one goal in a game.
Only twice this century have Nantes earned three points in a top-flight fixture versus PSG at the Parc des Princes, with the first one occurring in 2001-02 (1-0) and the other one happening during the 2020-21 campaign (2-1).
Team News
© Reuters
PSG will likely have to turn to third-string goalkeeper Arnau Tenas this weekend as Gianluigi Donnarumma is out with a red card suspension, while Keylor Navas has a sore back.
Sergio Rico is not expected to return until late December from a head injury, Warren Zaire-Emery has a sore ankle, Marquinhos is dealing with a hamstring strain and Fabian Ruiz continues to recover from a shoulder issue.
The leading goalscorer in Ligue 1, Kylian Mbappe, has netted in each of his last four competitive fixtures, putting home the winner against Le Havre last week, with Vitinha scoring an insurance goal in the latter stages of that match.
Quentin Merlin remains sidelined for Nantes because of a groin strain, while Ignatius Ganago is out for the season due to an ACL injury.
Alban Lafont was heroic between the sticks against Nice, stopping the six shots that he faced for his second successive clean sheet, with Florent Mollet notching the only goal of that game.
Mostafa Mohamed is fifth in Ligue 1 with five goals but has not found the back of the net since September 23, when they defeated Lorient 5-3.
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Tenas; Hakimi, Pereira, Skriniar, Hernandez; Vitinha, Ugarte, Lee; Dembele, Mbappe, Kolo Muani
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Coco, Comert, Castelletto, Duverne; Augusto, Moutoussamy; Mollet, Sissoko, Simon; Mohamed
We say: Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 Nantes
The last two matches for Nantes in this competition were against defensive-minded sides, and we expect the speed and quality of Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, among others, will be too much for the visitors to handle this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
