After the jubilation of knocking Barcelona out of the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain return to the domestic scene on Sunday when they welcome Nantes to the Parc des Princes.
Seventeen places and 36 points separate the two sides in the table at present, with PSG occupying second spot while their relegation-threatened opponents languish in 19th.
Match preview
© Reuters
The feasible but highly unlikely possibility of a second Remontada occurring must have been playing on the minds of PSG's crop when they welcomed Barcelona to Paris for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 battle, but in a much more low-key affair, Mauricio Pochettino's men got the job done courtesy of a 1-1 draw on their own turf against the Catalan giants.
Of course, the night would not be complete without a Lionel Messi thunderbolt, but the Argentine also saw a penalty saved while Kylian Mbappe made no mistake from the spot on Wednesday evening, and PSG's dreams of a long-awaited piece of European silverware are that little bit closer to becoming a reality as they wait to learn their quarter-final fate.
Champions League aspirations aside, PSG also have a Ligue 1 crown to retain, and while they have not dominated proceedings in the manner that fans have become accustomed to seeing from the Parisiens down the years, their relatively consistent form means that league leaders Lille - who face fourth-placed Monaco a few hours beforehand - are only two points clear of the reigning champions with 10 games left to play.
Lyon failed to rise to the summit on Friday as Reims held them to a 1-1 draw, with PSG and their remarkable goal difference of +45 not ready to relinquish their stronghold on the Ligue 1 scene just yet as they aim to return to winning ways on home soil, where Monaco managed to beat them 2-0 in their last Parc des Princes outing in the top flight.
Unsurprisingly, Pochettino's side have scored the most goals (34) and shipped the joint fewest (8) on familiar territory this term, and they have kept clean sheets in their last three domestic outings against Bordeaux, Dijon and Brest - the latter in the Coupe de France - so Nantes manager Antoine Kombouare will not be expecting miracles as he prepares to return to the Parc des Princes in the opposition dugout.
© Reuters
Nantes' results have improved somewhat since former PSG manager Kombouare took the reins, but he is yet to inspire a dramatic turnaround in fortunes as the threat of relegation looms large for Les Canaris.
Kombouare managed to navigate his first three games in the dugout unbeaten - winning at Angers before playing out 1-1 stalemates with Marseille and Nimes - but the Nantes boss suffered his first defeat in the Canaris dugout on March 3 as his side succumbed to a 2-1 loss to Reims at the Stade de la Beaujoire.
Despite drawing first blood through a Moses Simon header, Nantes allowed Reims defender Ghislain Konan and Yunis Abdelhamid to breach their defence - with the latter heading home in the 89th minute of the tie as any faint hopes of survival took yet another blow, but Nantes will at least be thankful that none of the teams around them managed to pick up wins in gameweek 28 either.
Three points separate Les Canaris from safety at this moment in time, but they have only managed to prevail in one of their last 19 outings in Ligue 1 - as well as drawing a league-high 12 - so while their affinity for stalemates embodies a fighting spirit within the Nantes ranks, multiple failures to convert one point into three could end up having severe consequences for Kombouare's strugglers.
However, Nantes travel to the Parc des Princes having lost just one of their last five away from home - going unbeaten in their last three - but they have lost 17 of their last 18 fixtures in Ligue 1 against PSG, who cruised to a 3-0 triumph at the Stade de la Beaujoire earlier in the campaign.
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Neymar was not quite ready to make his return to action against Barcelona and remains a major doubt for the visit of Nantes, while Moise Kean remains in self-isolation after testing positive for coronavirus.
Angel Di Maria was fit enough to come off the bench in the Champions League and could return to the first XI here, but Pochettino also has next week's battle with Lille in the Coupe de France to keep in mind.
Abdou Diallo earned plaudits for his cameo at left-back on Wednesday evening and could be rotated into the side here, while Rafinha is another option for change in the engine room, but Alessandro Florenzi failed to complete the full 90 minutes against Barcelona and may not be risked here.
Nantes right-back Sebastien Corchia exacerbated a quadriceps injury against Reims and has been ruled out of this game, so the recently-recovered Dennis Appiah may be tasked with trying to keep Mbappe quiet.
Kombouare has also revealed that Fabio will not recover in time for the trip to the capital, but Kalifa Coulibaly and Roli Pereira de Sa are now back in training following lengthy layoffs.
Despite losing in cruel fashion against Reims last time out, Kombouare will keep changes to a minimum, with the possible inclusion of Marcus Coco one of the few alterations that the visiting coach could make.
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Navas; Dagba, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Diallo; Gueye, Pereira; Di Maria, Rafinha, Mbappe; Icardi
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Appiah, Girotto, Castelletto, Traore; Blas, Toure, Chirivella, Simon; Louza; Kolo Muani
We say: Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Nantes
A number of changes can be expected on the hosts' end as they juggle Champions League, Ligue 1 and Coupe de France commitments, but PSG should have no problem dispatching a Nantes outfit who are still finding their feet under Kombouare. In addition, Pochettino's men could very well reclaim top spot if the result of Lille's battle with Monaco goes their way, so we cannot see any shocks happening here and are backing the champions to get the job done in convincing fashion.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
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 71.29%. A draw had a probability of 16.8% and a win for Nantes had a probability of 11.91%.
The most likely scoreline for a Paris Saint-Germain win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.61%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.5%) and 1-0 (8.71%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.8%), while for a Nantes win it was 1-2 (3.49%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 3.5% likelihood.
