Faltering champions Paris Saint-Germain will be eyeing an immediate return to winning ways in Ligue 1 when they travel to basement side Dijon on Saturday evening.
The hosts are 17 places and 39 points worse off than their opponents, whose title hopes took yet another huge blow with a 2-0 defeat to Monaco last time out.
Match preview
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Any fleeting signs of early optimism under David Linares have since been extinguished for Dijon, who have lost their last seven on the bounce in all competitions and are likely to be consigned to another campaign of second-tier football for the 2021-22 season.
A great escape from the relegation zone is still mathematically possible, but Dijon are witnessing most of the teams around them pick up vital points while they are left rooted to the bottom of the table with 15 points to show from 26 games - eight worse off than 19th-placed Lorient.
Les Hiboux have only registered two wins all season - both on the road - and unsurprisingly, their home record of six draws and seven defeats is by far the worst in the division, and their fortunes do not look like improving against the champions this weekend.
Linares's side gave it a good go against European-chasing Lens last time out, but they eventually succumbed to a 2-1 defeat to Sang et Or as Seko Fofana and Simon Banza struck either side of Ngonda Muzinga's equaliser, while Fulham loanee Aboubakar Kamara saw red to add insult to injury for Dijon.
Les Hiboux have lost their last three home games without finding the back of the net, and Senou Coulibaly's goal against Strasbourg is the only time that Dijon have scored on familiar territory in their last 10 matches, so Linares's team could be in for a long and brutal evening against the wounded champions.
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Thomas Tuchel is going from strength-to-strength at Chelsea after Tuesday's triumph at Atletico Madrid, but Mauricio Pochettino is quickly learning that Ligue 1 is no walk in the park for the perennial champions this season.
A Kylian Mbappe special saw PSG crush Barcelona at Camp Nou in the Champions League, but the capital outfit were unable to follow that historic win up with another triumph against title rivals Monaco, who blew the race for glory wide open with a 2-0 win at the Parc des Princes on Sunday.
Sofiane Diop and prolific centre-back Guillermo Maripan got the goals which condemned PSG to a sixth league defeat of the campaign, and Pochettino's side are now four points adrift of leaders Lille and one behind second-placed Lyon after they both returned to winning ways in gameweek 26.
Furthermore, Monaco moved to within two points of PSG with their weekend triumph, so the champions simply cannot afford to drop points at lowly Dijon if they are to keep the pressure on the sides above them, but they have only managed to win two of their last five away from home in the top flight.
Les Hiboux were no match for Tuchel's PSG earlier in the season as the champions won 4-0 at home, but Dijon did incredibly manage to defeat Les Parisiens 2-1 in this fixture last season - their only win in 13 attempts against the capital outfit.
Dijon Ligue 1 form: LLLLLL
Dijon form (all competitions): LLLLLL
Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1 form: WLWWWL
Paris Saint-Germain form (all competitions): WWWWWL
Team News
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Kamara is suspended for this game after his sending off against Lens, so Moussa Konate could return to the fold up top, and Frederic Sammaritano is back from a ban of his own.
Mama Balde could also return to the fold after serving a suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards, and Bersant Celina will hope to earn a recall in midfield.
Linares opted to employ a five-at-the-back system against Lens, which did not pay dividends, but he could stick with the same formation lest he risk a cricket score on Saturday.
Paris Saint-Germain continue to cope without Neymar, although he has reportedly returned to individual training and could have an outside chance of returning to face his old club Barcelona next month.
Juan Bernat has also started work on the ball again but is some way off a first-team return, although Colin Dagba and Pablo Sarabia are available again, while Angel Di Maria is still sidelined.
Pochettino will be forced into some more changes for this game, as Leandro Paredes is suspended while Marco Verratti, Mauro Icardi and Alessandro Florenzi have also been ruled out through various ailments.
Dijon possible starting lineup:
Racioppi; Boey, Manga, Panzo, Coulibaly, Muzinga; Ndong, Lautoa, Celina; Balde, Konate
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Navas; Dagba, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Gueye, Herrera; Sarabia, Draxler, Mbappe; Kean
We say: Dijon 0-3 Paris Saint-Germain
This may very well just be a case of how many PSG can win by, although their staggering goal difference of +40 - the best in the league - hardly needs improving. Dijon do not look like pulling themselves out of their rut anytime soon and have struggled for goals and performances at home all season, and while PSG's latest raft of absentees could certainly impact them, they should have no trouble claiming all three points.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Paris Saint-Germain win with a probability of 81.08%. A draw had a probability of 12.9% and a win for Dijon had a probability of 5.98%.
The most likely scoreline for a Paris Saint-Germain win was 0-2 with a probability of 13.84%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-3 (12.19%) and 0-1 (10.48%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.14%), while for a Dijon win it was 1-0 (2.33%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with an 8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Paris Saint-Germain would win this match.
