Paris Saint-Germain will continue their quest for their eleventh Ligue 1 title this Sunday when they welcome title rivals Marseille to Parc des Princes.
Venue: Parc des Princes (Paris)
Key Statistics
Paris Saint-Germain are unbeaten in their last 24 competitive games (W17, D7).
The hosts have kept seven clean sheets in 14 competitive games this season.
They have scored the most goals (28) and conceded the fewest goals (5) in the league this season.
Marseille have the second-best defence in the league this season, having conceded seven goals.
The visitors have kept four clean sheets in their last five away games in all competitions.
Head to head
In 30 meetings between both sides, PSG has won 20 times and Olympique Marseille has won five times.
Latest performances in all competitions
PSG: D-D-D-W-W
Marseille: W-L-W-W-L
PSG
Paris Saint Germain return to Ligue 1 action with a crunch top-of-the-table clash with Marseille at the Parc des Princes.
PSG come into this game off the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw with Benfica in the Champions League in midweek, their third consecutive draw in all competitions.
Christophe Galtier has made a brilliant start to his tenure at the capital club, with the French tactician managing to get the best out of Neymar and Lionel Messi, but the recent alleged unhappiness of Kylian Mbappe has whipped up a media storm that has been an enormous distraction for the French giants in recent times, with their performance on the pitch taking a huge hit.
With three points separating them from third-placed Marseille, PSG will be keen to take all three points and further increase the gap against Igor Tudor’s side.
PSG have dominated this fixture in recent times with three wins in their last five meetings but will have to dig deep this time to secure another win as they come up against an equally impressive Marseille side who have tasted defeat just once in the French top-flight.
The head coach will be sweating on the fitness of Argentina captain Lionel Messi, who has missed their last two games after picking up a minor knock in Portugal last two weeks.
The Argentine superstar has been in fine form this season, and PSG have looked to struggle in recent games without the brilliance of their No 30 who has struck up good chemistry with Neymar Jr. Christophe Galtier will certainly feel more confident with his talismanic player making it in time for the clash with Marseille.
Possible PSG starting line-up
Gianluigi Donnarumma; Nordi Mukiele, Marquinhos, Danilo Pereira; Achraf Hakimi, Fabian Ruiz, Marco Verratti, Juan Bernat; Pablo Sarabia, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar.
Injured: Nuno Mendes, Lionel Messi, Presnel Kimpembe
Doubtful: Renato Sanches
Suspended: Sergio Ramos
Marseille
Marseille, on the other hand, will be in search of their first win in the Ligue 1 this month after losing at home to Ajaccio last week.
Dimitri Payet scored his 100th Ligue 1 goal from the spot in the 15th minute, but Igor Tudor’s side could not hold down their lead, with Bevuc Moussitti-Oko grabbing the equaliser for the away side before the end of the first half.
The second half opened with Leonardo Balerdi putting the ball at the back of his own net to hand Ajaccio all three points.
However, Marseille come into this game off the back of a 0-2 win over Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, with a goal from Alexis Sanchez and a penalty from Matteo Guendouzi taking the French side to second place in Group D.
Igor Tudor will now hope to get his side together as they travel to Paris in search of their first win over league leaders since 2020.
Marseille come into this game knowing that a win will take them within one point of the league leaders and are expected to give it their best shot at the Parc des Princes.
Possible Marseille starting line-up
Ruben Blanco; Chancel Mbemba, Leonardo Balerdi, Samuel Gigot; Issa Kabore, Valentin Rongier, Pape Gueye, Nuno Tavares; Dimitri Payet, Gerson; Alexis Sanchez.
Injured: Sead Kolasinac
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
PSG 2-2 Marseille
