Top-of-the-table Paris Saint-Germain host escapees Brest on Saturday night as they look to close in on a fourth straight French Ligue 1 title kickoff at 11 pm.
The hard-earned draw for the Parisian outfit last time out, while their opponents found themselves staring down the barrel of defeat at home to high-flying Nice.
With Brazilian wing king Neymar up to his old tricks on the flanks, it was up to Lyon’s Selecao stars to explode the encounter at the Groupama Stadium into life last week. Bruno Guimaraes and Lucas Paqueta combined to fire home the opener after just seven minutes.
The ex-Manchester United youngster strolled past two challenges before lashing a shot across goal and past Sunderland goalkeeper Max Stryjek for his first Lyon goal.
PSG haven’t quite been at their best in the last few league matches. They’ve drawn four of their last five games, but they have a healthy 11-point lead over Marseille and Nice in the title race.
A goal from Kasper Dolberg, a sending off for Morgan Schneiderlin, and a hard-hitting encounter made Sunday’s meeting between Nice and Brest one to remember.
Andy Delort and wing partner Souleymane Camara were the star turn for OGC Nice. They inflicted Brest’s second league defeat of the season with a 3-1 victory at the Allianz Riviera.
PSG vs. Brest Head to Head
Both sides have 12 games against each other, with hosts taking 11 wins while Brest winless. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Lyon 1-1 PSG
- Vannes 0-4 PSG
- Lorient 1-1 PSG
- Feigning 0-3 PSG
- PSG 2-0 Monaco
Away
- Brest 0-3 Nice
- Brest 3-0 Bordeaux
- Troyes 1-1 Nice
- Dihan Lehon 0-0 Brest
- Brest 0-4 Montpellier
PSG Team News
PSG will check on Lionel Messi’s recovery from an elbow injury before deciding whether he is fit enough to feature in this week’s match against Lyon, while other senior stars are struggling with the flu.
Neymar is still injured and Abdou Diallo, Achraf Hakimi and Idrissa Gueye continue their Africa Cup of Nations duty.
Brest Team News
Coach Michel Dussuyer is without one player on AFCON duty for the games against Benin and Zimbabwe, with Haris Belkebla out of the squad due to food poisoning from some bad poulet. Romain Del Castillo and Sebastien Cibois remain sidelined due to groin and Achilles injuries respectively.
Prediction and Odds
Although it remains to be seen which PSG players will be fit enough to return from their COVID-19 cluster, it will surely be too big an ask for Brest to prevent the league leaders from returning to winning ways.
- PSG Win
- Goals Over 1.5
- Mbappe to Score