PSG Must Take Chance to Halt Olympique Lyonnais' Revival While They Can

PSG righted their European campaign with the excellent comeback draw at Arsenal in midweek and now attention returns to domestic matters. 

The trip to face Olympique Lyonnais will be comparably testing. 

OL sat atop Ligue 1 after the first two matchdays but won only two of their next nine league games to plummet down the table. 

The last month has seen Bruno Genesio's side recover momentum once again, and they now lead the chasing pack behind the leaders. 

Runners-up for the last two seasons and consistently producing exciting players from their academy, one of Europe's most prodigious, Lyon have long loomed as PSG's likeliest domestic rivals. 

They were the first team, and one of only two, to beat Paris last season. 

PSG have a chance to stifle their renascent title charge. 

Victory would put a 10-point barrier between the two sides but this is a fixture that Paris have failed to win since May 2013.

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No other team in France has proven so resistant to the otherwise all-conquering team from the capital. 

And, of course, this PSG team is not what its predecessor was. 

Emery's vintage are still finding their way and are not the buzz-saw that was Laurent Blanc's side in Ligue 1 last season. 

Lyon forward Alexandre Lacazette, perhaps unwilling to provide any additional motivation, told gathered reporters on Friday that PSG are "no less frightening" this season, via L'Equipe.

It is Lacazette's battle with opposing centre-forward Edinson Cavani that will be the focus of pre-match analysis. 

Cavani has the slight edge, having struck 11 times to Lacazette's 10 but the Uruguayan has played more minutes and the duo are scoring at an almost identical rate.

Lacazette has a goal every 70 minutes while Cavani lags slightly behind, scoring every 74 minutes, via LFP.fr. 

Each scored a poacher's goal in the Champions League in midweek, too. 

Both arriving with perfect timing to exploit their teammates' good work. Perhaps that was merely a taste of what is to come on Sunday. 

Ligue 1's two highest-scoring strikers will only rarely occupy the same space on the pitch, but they are singularly important to their teams and whichever has the better game should lead their team to victory.

Away from the star forwards, the team news for this match certainly favours Paris. 

Angel Di Maria, who missed the Champions League match in London, is expected to return to the lineup and provide the overwhelming drive from midfield.

Serge Aurier, fresh from his ludicrous denial of entry into the United Kingdom, is also available once again. 

Flying full-back Layvin Kurzawa remains in doubt, according to Le Parisien, and so 35-year-old Maxwell could be called on to play his third game in eight days. 

Beyond the players returning to fitness, Emery has another trump card to play in the form of Hatem Ben Arfa. 

Against Arsenal, Ben Arfa was instrumental in the recovery from 2-1 down and the change in shape that made it possible. 

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While Emery had deployed his side in an uneven 4-3-3 formation with Blaise Matuidi dropping in to midfield from a nominal position wide on the left, it was the shift to 4-2-3-1 that turned the tide. 

Ben Arfa, the nearest thing to a prototypical number ten in PSG's squad, revelled in the space vacated by Arsenal's retreating backline, and he is gradually emerging as a trusted option to whom Emery can turn if he wants to change the game. 

Belying his difficult reputation, Ben Arfa is happy with his substitute role for now. After the Arsenal match, he deferred to the coach's decision, simply hoping to "help the team," per Onze Mondial. 

A product of Lyon's academy and four-time champion of France with Les Gones, Ben Arfa returns hoping to inflict defeat upon his former club. 

By contrast, Lyon have little to celebrate. 

Emanuel Mammana, the Argentina international signed in the summer to fill the void in Lyon's backline left by the departure of Samuel Umtiti for Barcelona, continues to be troubled by an adductor issue and is in doubt, according to L'Equipe. 

The buccaneering centre half has been plagued by injury in his debut season in France but nonetheless his absence is a boost to PSG. 

Right-back Christophe Jallet, twice Ligue 1 title-winner with Paris, is also expected to miss the champions' visit to Parc Olympique Lyonnais.  

Lyon's defence is already the second-leakiest in the top half of Ligue 1 while PSG's is the best in Europe. 

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Paris have conceded only seven times compared with OL's generous 16.

These two sides have already met once this season. 

Predictions before that clash had been of the closest Trophees des Champions in years but an undermanned PSG side took Lyon apart in a 4-1 win. 

The final scoreline was modest in comparison with the gulf in quality on the pitch. 

That trophy is little more than a amplified friendly, but it is instructive of Paris' capacity to hold teams down and destroy them. 

Caen, Stade Rennais, Metz and Dijon have all been crushed by PSG already this season, all during a supposedly slow start to their title defence. 

Lyon have been warned, but they too possess dangerous players. 

Paris' defence may be statistically Europe's meanest, but their flaws were evident in each of their last two matches against Arsenal and Nantes. 

Nantes are a largely incompetent team and thus failed to make Paris pay, but Arsenal were more threatening and Lyon will be too. 

This match is an opportunity for Emery to carve out his own piece of history and simultaneously end any aspirations Lyon have of overhauling them. 

OL are one of the few clubs in France genuinely capable of rivalling PSG and any opportunity to throw them back into disarray should not be ignored. 

Victory would further silence critics of Emery's progress, retain pace with Nice and Monaco at the top of Ligue 1 and halt the advance of a nascent threat. 

The draw with Arsenal felt like a victory, but beating Lyon would be more triumphant still.