PSG vs. Lyon: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream and TV Info
Paris Saint-Germain will be out to extend their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season when they host last term’s runners-up Olympique Lyonnais at Parc des Princes on Sunday.
The French champions finished off their UEFA Champions League Group A campaign in style on Tuesday, seeing off Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 in Paris. Lyon finished their unsuccessful Group H outing with their first win in this season’s competition, beating Valencia CF 2-0 away.
Hubert Fournier’s men are without a number of key players, so PSG are heavy favourites to win this one.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Date: Sunday, December 13
Time: 9 p.m. CET (8 p.m. GMT)/2 p.m. EST
Venue: Parc des Princes, Paris
TV Info: Canal+ (France—9 p.m. CET), BT Sport 2 (UK—8:45 p.m. GMT), beIN Sports (USA—22:30 p.m. EST)
Live Stream: beIN Sports Connect
Preamble
PSG and Lyon come into this one separated by 19 points and four other Ligue 1 sides. Laurent Blanc’s men lead Le Championnat, 15 points clear of second-placed Angers SCO, while OL trail in sixth and are without a win since a 3-0 victory over bitter rivals AS Saint-Etienne in early November.
Les Gones have suffered this season without Nabil Fekir, and Fournier is also missing Alexandre Lacazette, Mathieu Valbuena, Samuel Umtiti, Christophe Jallet, Milan Bisevac and Aldo Kalulu for the trip to the capital, per OLweb.fr.
Les Parisiens have had no such problems and Blanc welcomes back Marco Verratti from a lengthy injury absence, per PSG.fr. Captain Thiago Silva and right back Serge Aurier also return after they were rested for the 2-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
PSG have made their strongest start to a domestic season in years and could finish the first half of the campaign unbeaten if they can avoid defeat against Lyon, Saint-Etienne and high-flying SM Caen before the winter break.
Pre-season, the French champions at home to OL would have been one of the standout fixtures on the domestic calendar. However, Les Gones’ disappointing form means that this clash is nothing out of the ordinary, despite the talent on both sides on paper.
A win for PSG could stretch their lead at the summit of Le Championnat, while a Lyon victory would enable them to close the gap on Blanc’s men to 16 points and possibly move to within a point of Angers and Caen.
Form Lines (all competitions)
PSG
W 0-5 vs. Malmo FF (Champions League)
W 4-1 vs. ESTAC Troyes (Ligue 1)
D 0-0 vs. Angers (Ligue 1)
W 0-3 vs. OGC Nice (Ligue 1)
W 2-0 vs. Shakhtar Donetsk (Champions League)
Lyon
L 1-2 vs. KAA Gent (Champions League)
L 2-4 vs. Montpellier HSC (Ligue 1)
D 0-0 vs. FC Nantes (Ligue 1)
L 0-2 vs. Angers SCO (Ligue 1)
W 0-2 vs. Valencia CF (Champions League)
Predicted Formations
"Paris-Lyon : les compos probables (L'Équipe) #PSGOL #PSG pic.twitter.com/ZF1u22jYHX
— Paris No Limit™ (@ParisNoLimit) December 13, 2015"
PSG (4-3-3): Trapp; Aurier, Silva (c), Luiz, Maxwell; Motta, Rabiot/Verratti, Matuidi; Di Maria, Ibrahimovic, Cavani.
Lyon (4-3-3): Lopes; Rafael, Mbiwa, Morel, Bedimo; Gonalons (c), Ferri, Tolisso; Cornet, Beauvue, Grenier.
Player to Watch Per Side
For the first time since PSG’s 1-0 defeat away at Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, Marco Verratti should feature for the capital club.
The Italy international has been kept out by injury since then, and Adrien Rabiot has done a good job to fill in for him and ensure that Blanc’s men do not miss the Azzurri star too much.
However, Les Parisiens have missed Verratti’s creativity from deep in recent weeks, and his return to the squad is good news for the hosts.
As for Lyon, Clement Grenier’s absence through injury had a similar impact on the early part of their season.
The France international is now fit again, back in action and aiming to make up for lost time as he tried to get himself back in the reckoning for a place in Didier Deschamps’ 2016 UEFA European Championship plans.
A strong performance from the creative midfielder at Parc des Princes would certainly get the attention of Les Bleus’ tactician.
Key Battle
If Lyon are to escape Paris with anything on Sunday, then they will need their defence to be extremely tight.
PSG will be difficult to score against at the other end, but Les Gones stand no chance at Parc des Princes if they cannot keep the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Angel Di Maria at bay.
A potential back line comprised of Rafael, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Jeremy Morel, Henri Bedimo or Bakary Kone will not exactly fill Fournier with optimism ahead of the game and a goalless draw would be an excellent result all things considered.
Odds (Oddsshark)
PSG: -286
Lyon: +820
Draw: +350
