Two clubs without a point on the board in the 2020-21 Ligue 1 campaign will lock horns on Wednesday evening as Paris Saint-Germain welcome Metz to the Parc des Princes.
PSG have suffered defeat to Lens and Marseille thus far, while Metz have been put to the sword by Monaco and Lille in the early stages of the new season.
Match preview
© Reuters
Le Classique certainly lived up to its name on Sunday evening, but Marseille's first victory over PSG since 2011 was overshadowed by an injury-time brawl which saw a flurry of red cards brandished to both teams.
Florian Thauvin's goal proved the difference on the night, but tensions boiled over in the dying embers of the match and referee Jerome Brisard sent off Marseille's Jordan Amavi and Dario Benedetto before PSG trio Neymar, Leandro Paredes and Layvin Kurzawa were also given their marching orders.
Neymar has since accused Marseille defender Alvaro Gonzalez - whom he struck in the back of the head - of making a racist comment, but PSG ultimately fell to defeat in front of their own fans and have now lost their last three in all competitions.
The end result could have been worse for PSG had Benedetto not seen his second-half strike controversially ruled out for offside after a VAR check, while PSG's Angel Di Maria also saw his goal chalked off during a frenzied derby.
The reigning champions welcomed several first-team players back to the fold after coronavirus had ravaged Thomas Tuchel's squad, and with the prospect of more key men returning for the midweek clash, PSG will be out for blood when they welcome a lowly Metz to the capital.
Like their midweek opponents, Metz have also succumbed to back-to-back 1-0 defeats thus far, although those losses were against European-chasing sides in Monaco and Lille.
Vincent Hognon's men have been handed a difficult start to the new campaign and will certainly not be expected to walk away from their encounter with PSG with anything to show from it, but defeat to Lille was their first league loss on the road since the turn of the year.
Les Grenats staved off relegation by a margin of 11 points last term, and Hognon's side should not be discouraged by their early season results against some of France's most successful clubs.
A weekend clash against Reims lies in wait for Metz after showdown with PSG on Wednesday - a side that have also lost their first two games of the season by a 1-0 scoreline - so Hognon should feel more optimistic about his side's chances of getting at least a point on the board from that encounter.
PSG have won their last nine against Metz in all competitions and enjoyed a 2-0 victory when the sides met last season, while Les Grenats have not beaten the champions since the 2005-06 campaign.
Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1 form: LL
Metz Ligue 1 form: LL
Team News
© Reuters
PSG will be without Neymar, Paredes and Kurzawa owing to their red cards against Marseille, but Tuchel will be hopeful of welcoming more of his stars back from a self-isolation period.
Kylian Mbappe, Mauro Icardi, Keylor Navas and Marquinhos all missed out Le Classique but some of the quartet could have a chance of being involved in midweek.
Julian Draxler also returned to the squad after missing out the defeat to Lens, and the Germany international will be holding out for a start should Tuchel opt to freshen things up amid a hectic fixture schedule.
However, right-back Alessandro Florenzi, who made his debut for PSG in the loss to Marseille, is ineligible for this tie due to a registration problem.
As for Metz, Manuel Cabit is continuing to recover from a car accident which happened last season, while Kevin N'Doram remains out with an Achilles problem.
Having held out for 88 minutes against Lille before conceding a late goal, Hognon will most likely stick with the majority of the side which started that game.
In-demand forward Habib Diallo came off the bench in that defeat and could be in line for a start here.
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Navas; Kehrer, Kimpembe, Diallo, Bernat; Gueye, Verratti, Draxler; Sarabia, Icardi, Di Maria
Metz possible starting lineup:
Oukidja; Centonze, Bronn, Fofana, Delaine; Maiga, Pajot, Angban; Boulaya, Diallo, Nguette
We say: Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Metz
In spite of the fact that PSG have endured a woeful start to the new campaign without several key players, an out-of-sorts Metz side will prove no match for the champions on their own turf and we expect Tuchel's men to record their first victory of the campaign with ease in midweek.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 3.5:data
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 77.44%. A draw had a probability of 15% and a win for Metz had a probability of 7.56%.
The most likely scoreline for a Paris Saint-Germain win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.89%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.38%) and 3-0 (11.3%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.11%), while for a Metz win it was 0-1 (2.91%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Paris Saint-Germain would win this match.
