How Paris Saint-Germain could line up against Brest

Paris Saint-Germain are not expected to hand Lionel Messi his debut during Friday's Ligue 1 battle with Brest at the Stade Francis-Le Ble.

The six-time Ballon d'Or winner watched on from the stands during Les Parisiens' 4-2 win over Brest last weekend, but recent reports have claimed that Mauricio Pochettino will instead field his compatriot for the first time against Reims on August 29.

Neymar accompanied Messi in the stands last weekend, and he is also one of several uncertainties alongside Angel Di Maria, Leandro Paredes, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marquinhos and Marco Verratti following their international exploits.

With a nine-day gap between the trip to Brest and next week's battle with Reims, Pochettino may keep his finalists in reserve despite their appearances on the training pitches, while Sergio Ramos and Colin Dagba are still injured.

Donnarumma's absence should lead to another start in goal for Keylor Navas - whose own future has been called into question - while an unchanged backline will see Achraf Hakimi, Presnel Kimpembe, Thilo Kehrer and Abdou Diallo all feature as Juan Bernat builds up his fitness.

Idrissa Gueye has recovered from a bout of coronavirus to boost Pochettino's options in the middle, but Georginio Wijnaldum and Ander Herrera should keep their places, while Danilo Pereira may be introduced in place of Eric Ebimbe.

Julian Draxler, Mauro Icardi and Kylian Mbappe all played their parts in goals against Strasbourg and ought to form an unchanged front three, despite Pablo Sarabia also getting in on the act as a substitute.

PSG possible starting lineup: Navas; Hakimi, Kehrer, Kimpembe, Diallo; Pereira, Herrera, Wijnaldum; Draxler, Icardi, Mbappe