Two sides neck-and-neck in the Ligue 1 table will lock horns on Friday evening as Paris Saint-Germain welcome Angers to the Parc des Princes.
Both clubs enjoyed victories in gameweek five, with PSG overcoming Reims while Angers came out on top in a five-goal thriller with Brest.
Match preview
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Following a turbulent start to the new campaign with two losses from their opening two matches, PSG are finally starting to look more like their familiar selves.
The champions appear to have put that dramatic Classique defeat to Marseille behind them as they boast a three-game winning streak in Ligue 1 - overcoming Metz, Nice and Reims without shipping a single goal.
Reims are a side in disarray at the moment, and PSG needed no second invitation to put their opponents to the sword last weekend, with Kylian Mbappe setting up Mauro Icardi for both goals at the Stade Auguste-Delaune.
PSG's next three fixtures after their showdown with Angers are against Nimes, Dijon and Nantes - a trio of sides who are enduring woeful spells of form in the French top flight - so Thomas Tuchel's men have been handed a prime opportunity to keep that momentum going before the real challenges begin in November.
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Meanwhile, Angers - the only other side apart from PSG to have won three and lost two of their opening five matches - were indebted to two late goals from Ismael Traore and Angelo Fulgini as they overcame Brest 3-2 on Sunday.
That result leaves Angers eighth in the table as things stand - only behind PSG on goal difference at this early stage - although with six goals scored and eight conceded, Angers have the joint-worst goal difference in the top half of the table.
Stephane Moulin's men are currently on a streak of winning one then losing one in the top flight, and that form will certainly be expected to continue when they travel to an in-form PSG side on Friday evening.
Indeed, PSG have come out on top in the last nine meetings between the two sides - including the 2017 Coupe de France final - and the champions inflicted a 4-0 thrashing on Angers in this fixture last season.
Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1 form: LLWWW
Angers Ligue 1 form: WLWLW
Team News
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Angel Di Maria and Layvin Kurzawa are banned for PSG, who could also be without the services of Neymar owing to calf tightness, although the forward has an outside chance of being involved.
Juan Bernat is expected to be sidelined until March after undergoing surgery on a ruptured ACL, while fellow defender Thilo Kehrer is expected to return to action after the international break.
Di Maria's suspension means that Pablo Sarabia should come back into the fold on the right-hand side for Tuchel's men, while Marco Verratti will also be looking to start this one.
Meanwhile, Angers will have to make do without Romain Thomas due to a hand fracture, while Waniss Taibi is quarantining after testing positive for coronavirus.
Souleyman Doumbia, Rachid Alioui and Farid El Melali are also out, although few changes are expected from the side from that thrilling victory against Brest.
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Navas; Florenzi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Bakker; Paredes, Verratti, Draxler; Sarabia, Icardi, Mbappe
Angers possible starting lineup:
Bernardoni; Bamba, Traore, Pavlovic, Nouri; Capelle, Fulgini, Mangani; Thioub, Bahoken, Bobichon
We say: Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Angers
PSG's quest for a fourth-straight Ligue 1 title is gathering pace, and Angers seem destined to become the next victims of the champions as they look to put their underwhelming start to the season behind them. The two sides are currently level pegging in the standings, but we expect PSG to finish the weekend three points above Angers with a resounding victory on their own turf.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Away:data
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 74.89%. A draw had a probability of 16.4% and a win for Angers had a probability of 8.71%.
The most likely scoreline for a Paris Saint-Germain win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.89%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (12.03%) and 3-0 (10.69%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.77%), while for an Angers win it was 0-1 (3.37%). The actual scoreline of 6-1 was predicted with a 0.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Paris Saint-Germain would win this match.
