Paris Saint-Germain will endeavour to build on their dramatic Champions League victory over Manchester United when they travel to Montpellier HSC for Saturday's Ligue 1 fixture.
However, the champions are hoping to avoid a third game without a win in the top flight and are facing a Montpellier side who have triumphed four times on the bounce in Ligue 1.
Match preview
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Montpellier have certainly staked their claim for a spot in Europe over the past few weeks, with Michel der Zakarian witnessing his side prevail in their last four top-flight outings.
Only Monaco and Marseille – who sit either side of fifth-placed Montpellier – can also boast such a strong spell of form, although Marseille do have two games in hand as they lie two points adrift of Montpellier heading into the weekend.
Nevertheless, the Montpellier faithful will certainly be feeling more optimistic about their side's fortunes now, with La Paillade putting their dismal October run behind them with a perfect set of results in November.
Der Zakarian's men took 12 points from a possible 12 against Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Lorient last month, with Petar Skuletic notching up the winner against the latter – his first goal of the season – in that 1-0 victory last Sunday.
Montpellier have a slim chance of finishing this weekend at the top of the rankings – as something has to give in Lille's showdown with Monaco – but La Paillade would also have to beat PSG and hope that Lyon fail to overcome Metz for that to occur.
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Goals, controversy and a mesmerising performance from Neymar. Just another regular night in the Champions League for Paris Saint-Germain.
One could argue that United were very fortunate to play most of the first half with 11 men after Fred moved his head towards Leandro Paredes, and the two European powerhouses both notched up one goal apiece before the half-time whistle blew as Neymar's opener was cancelled out by Marcus Rashford's deflected effort.
However, United's evening fell apart in a matter of seconds as Fred was eventually given his marching orders just after Marquinhos gave PSG the lead, and a swift attacking move in the dying embers ended with Neymar bagging his second of the night to propel PSG to a 3-1 win at Old Trafford.
PSG, United and Leipzig all boast nine points from five matches in Group H ahead of next week's mouth-watering final fixtures, with Thomas Tuchel fully aware that PSG must beat Istanbul Basaksehir to give themselves the best chance possible of advancing to the last 16.
Focus temporarily turns to Ligue 1 for the time being, though, with PSG hoping to extend their two-point lead over Lille at the top of the rankings, but the Parisiens have lost to Monaco and drawn with Bordeaux over the past couple of weeks.
Montpellier overcame PSG 3-2 at the Stade de la Mosson in the 2018-19 campaign, but Tuchel's men enjoyed a 3-1 victory on Montpellier's turf last season before winning 5-0 at home.
Montpellier HSC Ligue 1 form: DLWWWW
Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1 form: WWWWLD
Paris Saint-Germain form (all competitions): LWLWDW
Team News
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Montpellier have the rare luxury of a clean bill of health for this game, which is just what Der Zakarian needs before welcoming the champions to La Paillade.
Skuletic's first goal of the season is highly unlikely to put him into Der Zakarian's thinking with regards to his front three, which should see Gaetan Laborde, Andy Delort and Stephy Mavididi all start once more.
Ambroise Oyongo may replace Mihailo Ristic at left-back in what could be the hosts' only change from their win over Lorient.
PSG are not so fortunate on the injury front, with Mauro Icardi and Pablo Sarabia expected to miss this one out after being left at home for the trip to Manchester.
Julian Draxler remains doubtful but has a chance of returning from a thigh problem for this encounter, while Abdou Diallo is back after serving a suspension in the draw with Bordeaux.
Tuchel could decide to shuffle the pack given the importance of next week's clash with Basaksehir, meaning that the likes of Rafinha, Colin Dagba and Layvin Kurzawa could all be in line for starts at the Stade de la Mosson.
Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:
Omlin; Sambia, Mendes, Congre, Oyongo; Ferri, Savanier, Mollet; Laborde, Delort, Mavididi
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Navas; Dagba, Kimpembe, Marquinhos, Kurzawa; Gueye, Herrera, Rafinha; Di Maria, Kean, Neymar
We say: Montpellier HSC 2-2 Paris Saint-Germain
Montpellier would normally be fearful of welcoming the champions to the Stade de la Mosson, but PSG have bigger fish to fry at the moment and could rest some big-name stars with the Champions League in mind. Given the hosts' strong spell of form over the past few weeks, we can see Der Zakarian's men coming away from their clash with the champions with a vital point this weekend.
Top betting tip
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 71.58%. A draw had a probability of 15.9% and a win for Montpellier HSC had a probability of 12.49%.
The most likely scoreline for a Paris Saint-Germain win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.16%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.89%) and 1-3 (8.04%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.95%), while for a Montpellier HSC win it was 2-1 (3.58%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with an 8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Paris Saint-Germain would win this match.
