Paris Saint-Germain begin the defence of their Ligue 1 title with Saturday's trip to the Stade Gabriel-Montpied to face Clermont in gameweek one.
Meanwhile, the hosts are preparing for their second consecutive season of top-flight football after successfully staving off relegation last term.
Match preview
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A welcome addition to the big time, Clermont were not averse to shocking the big teams in the 2021-22 season, and Pascal Gastien managed to secure another season of Ligue 1 football for his side with a 17th-placed finish.
After taking eight points from their first four games of the season - remaining unbeaten in the process - Clermont unsurprisingly drifted to the lower echelons of the division but still managed to post memorable wins over Lille, Rennes, Marseille and Nice.
Montpellier HSC, Rodez and Toulouse have already fallen to Clermont's superiority in pre-season friendlies, and Les Lanciers kept clean sheets in all of those battles, but Lens and Grenoble Foot both got the better of Gastien's side.
Shoring up the defence has clearly been the theme for Gastien this summer, especially as his side conceded at least one goal in each of their last 10 Ligue 1 matches at home, and PSG have already stamped their authority on the French game under Christophe Galtier.
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Galtier did not need the early blot of Trophee des Champions failure on his notebook as he seeks to appease the trigger-happy Parisiens board, but the former Lille and Nice boss oversaw a convincing success over Coupe de France winners Nantes during the Super Cup showdown in Israel.
Even with the suspended Kylian Mbappe helplessly watching on, Les Parisiens struck through Neymar (2), Lionel Messi and an audacious Sergio Ramos backheel - the veteran Spaniard clearly took inspiration from Lionesses hero Alessia Russo.
Winning the Trophee des Champions certainly does not guarantee one's future in the PSG hotseat, but Galtier and football advisor Luis Campos have made some astute young acquisitions this summer, as the 2020-21 Ligue 1 title winner tries to prove that he is here for the long haul.
Defending their Ligue 1 title is Galtier's prerequisite, but the Frenchman could hardly be under any more pressure to finally deliver success in the Champions League after a multitude of early eliminations, which have often been humiliating in nature.
PSG thrashed Clermont 6-1 at the Stade Gabriel-Montpeid last term and previously ran out 4-0 winners over Les Lanciers at the Parc des Princes, so the hosts' pre-season defensive resilience may count for nought on the opening day.
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Team News
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Clermont are not reported to be dealing with any injury concerns at this moment in time, and Gastien should therefore have a fully-fit squad at his disposal, with no players missing through suspension either.
Jeremie Bela may need more time to get up to speed with his new teammates after arriving from Birmingham City, and fellow new arrivals Maxime Gonalons and Komnen Andric have strong chances of starting this one.
Mohamed Bayo, Salis Abdul Samed, Vital Nsimba, Cedric Hountondji and Akim Zedadka have all moved onto pastures new this summer, so a new-look backline will take to the pitch for the hosts.
As for PSG, Galtier would have welcomed Mbappe back with open arms after he served his ban in the Coupe de France, but the Frenchman is also ruled out of this one with an adductor issue.
Julian Draxler is also still sidelined with a knee injury but would have been unlikely to start here anyway, while Hugo Ekitike is in the squad and will hope to take advantage of Mbappe's absence, but Pablo Sarabia represents a more experienced option.
Galtier has been partial to a three-man backline so far at PSG and has no reason to fix what is not broken here, while the two midfield spots could belong to Marco Verratti and Vitinha.
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Djoco; Zeffane, Seidu, Ogier, Borges; Gonalons, Magnin; Dossou, Berthomeir, Rashani; Andric
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Ramos, Kimpembe, Marquinhos; Hakimi, Vitinha, Verratti, Mendes; Messi; Sarabia, Neymar
We say: Clermont 0-5 Paris Saint-Germain
With so many key defensive names departing Clermont during the current transfer window, expect a ruthless PSG attack to hit their golden stride straight away this weekend.
Putting four past Nantes without reply was the perfect start to the campaign for Les Parisiens, and we can picture the capital side going one better here with a five-star and five-goal performance.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
