Sunday night’s mouth-watering Ligue 1 showdown pits former champions Lille against reigning holders Paris Saint-Germain at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
Lille pulled off a major upset in 2020/21 to pip a star-studded PSG side to the league crown under the stewardship of Christophe Galtier, now in charge of Paris.
However, since Galtier’s departure in summer 2021, Les Dogues have been on the downward curve, as witnessed by an underwhelming 10th-place finish last season.
After failing to meet the expectations in 2021/22, Jocelyn Gourvennec was relieved of his duties in the summer in favour of former Roma boss Paulo Fonseca.
It’s been a promising start to the new Ligue 1 season for the Portuguese tactician, with Lille beating promoted Auxerre 4-1 on the opening weekend before drawing 1-1 at Nantes last time out.
Despite a couple of decent showings in the two inaugural rounds, Les Dogues will take the field with the odds heavily stacked against them.
There’s a substantial gulf in class, as witnessed by PSG’s stellar run of 18 unbeaten matches across their last 20 top-flight clashes against Lille (W14, D4).
With both victories coming during Galtier’s tenure, the hosts’ chances of taking advantage of the ongoing troubles in Paris’ proverbial paradise look rather slim.
It’s still uncertain whether star forwards Neymar and Kylian Mbappe buried the hatchet after being caught in an unpleasant situation during a 5-2 thumping of Montpellier last time out.
After wasting a spot-kick, Mbappe wanted to take another penalty in the first half, but PSG’s most expensive signing, Neymar, seized the ball and converted.
Match Preview
Lille
Scoring against reigning Ligue 1 champions has been an issue for Lille of late, as they’ve failed to get on the scoresheet in five of their last six such showdowns at home.
Les Dogues could well buck that trend here, having found the net in both last season’s Ligue 1 meetings with PSG despite losing each of them.
Writing Lille off before the kick-off would be a dummy thing to do, especially considering their evenly-poised five-game home league record against Les Parisiens (W2, D1, L2).
Paris Saint-Germain
Galtier’s touchline Ligue 1 debut saw PSG put five unanswered goals past Clermont in a landslide 5-0 victory that forms part of a stellar run that has seen them net 3+ goals in five consecutive away league games.
Les Parisiens have already scored ten goals this Ligue 1 season, at least twice as many as any other side in the French top flight, suggesting Lille’s backline could go through a world of pain on Sunday.
After netting precisely five goals in their last three Ligue 1 outings, PSG could become the second side in the competition’s history to do it four times in a row.
Lille vs Paris Saint-Germain Potential Line-ups
Lille (4-2-3-1): Leo Jardim; Akim Zedadka, Jose Fonte, Alexsandro, Gabriel Gudmundsson; Jonas Martin, Angel Gomes; Jonathan David, Remy Cabella, Jonathan Bamba; Mohamed Bayo.
Paris Saint-Germain (3-4-3): Ginaluigi Donnarumma; Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Presnel Kimpembe; Achraf Hakimi, Marco Verratti, Renato Sanches, Nuno Mendes; Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe.
How to Watch?
Lille vs PSG, coupled with all other Ligue 1 fixtures, is available to watch online via Ligue 1 live streams.
Lille vs Paris Saint-Germain Prediction
Mbappe and Neymar may not be on good terms at the moment, but that should not hinder PSG’s bid to maintain their 100% start to a potentially historic season.
Seeking a record-breaking 11th Ligue 1 title, Galtier’s men will take every game seriously, and we back them to prove that here.
Lille 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain
