Paris Saint-Germain will be desperate to recover from their embarrassing defeat to lowly Lorient when they face off against another bottom-three side in Nimes on Wednesday evening.
Mauricio Pochettino's side lost 3-2 to Les Merlus in one of the shocks of the season at the weekend, while Nimes' dismal run continued with defeat to Angers.
Match preview
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Lorient managed to get the better of Dijon in a 3-2 thriller just days after recovering from a major coronavirus outbreak, and you would struggle to find one brave soul who placed a bet on it happening again when PSG paid a visit on Sunday.
However, the reigning champions slipped up once again as goals from Laurent Abergel, Yoane Wissa and Terem Moffi - his fifth in as many matches - propelled Lorient to a historic win as Neymar's two penalties ended up proving nothing more than a mere consolation for a humiliated PSG.
The 2020-21 Ligue 1 title race continues to throw up an abundance of surprises every gameweek, and with Lyon and Lille both managing to grind out wins at the weekend, PSG have now slipped to third in the table as their three-game winning run came to an abrupt end.
Nevertheless, leaders Lille remain within touching distance, and with PSG boasting a staggering goal difference of +36, they will rise to the summit with a win if Lille and Lyon both suffer unexpected losses to Bordeaux and Dijon respectively.
Furthermore, PSG are now welcoming Nimes to a ground where they have won their last four on the bounce in the top flight - scoring 13 goals and conceding none - but having witnessed one of their relegation rivals get the better of Pochettino's men, Nimes can dare to dream.
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Nimes also suffered a dampening defeat at the weekend, but their loss was somewhat expected as they were brushed aside by Angers, who ended their own losing streak with a 3-1 win over the division's basement side.
Renaud Ripart's penalty did little to spare Nimes' blushes as Lassana Coulibaly, Lois Diony and Pierrick Capelle all netted for Angers before the hour mark, and the pressure on Jerome Arpinon's shoulders is growing by the week.
Les Crocodiles did manage to claim a memorable 2-1 win over a troubled Marseille last week, but the Angers result has brought them crashing back down to earth and they can boast just one triumph from their last 10 attempts in the top flight - with eight of those games ending in defeat.
Nimes remain at the bottom of the pile as things stand, but the path to safety is not all that complicated as only three points separate them from 17th-placed Nantes, although 44 goals shipped is by far the worst in the division.
PSG ran riot in a 4-0 win on Nimes' turf earlier in the campaign, and the champions have put at least three past Les Crocodiles in their last four meetings since 2018.
Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1 form: WDWWWL
Paris Saint-Germain form (all competitions): DWWWWL
Nimes Ligue 1 form: DLLLWL
Team News
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PSG will be without Marco Verratti and Abdou Diallo after they returned positive coronavirus tests before the Lorient defeat, although the former is banned for this one anyway.
Neymar is also suspended for this fixture, so it would not be a surprise to see Kylian Mbappe move back out to the left while Julian Draxler and Rafinha battle it out for the number 10 role.
It remains to be seen if Keylor Navas and Marquinhos will recover in time for PSG, who could do without a raft of injuries heading into a taxing February schedule.
Nimes have a number of injury concerns to work around as well, with Sidy Sarr, Loick Landre and Pablo Martinez all still out of action for now.
Martinez is thought to have a good chance of returning in time for the weekend's clash with Monaco, but his absence for this game means that Nimes have limited defensive options against a formidable PSG attack.
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Rico; Dagba, Kehrer, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Paredes, Gueye; Di Maria, Rafinha, Mbappe; Icardi
Nimes possible starting lineup:
Reynet; Alakouch, Deaux, Briancon, Meling; Cubas, Fomba; Ferhat, Ripart, Eliasson; Kone
We say: Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Nimes
Lorient proved at the weekend that PSG's ravaged defence is certainly not impenetrable, and the losses of Neymar and Verratti will also have a profound impact on Pochettino's side. Stranger things have happened this season, but we do not expect the champions to suffer back-to-back upsets and are tipping the hosts to return to winning ways in dominant fashion over the league's basement team this week.
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 90.8%. A draw had a probability of 6.7% and a win for Nimes had a probability of 2.54%.
The most likely scoreline for a Paris Saint-Germain win was 3-0 with a probability of 12.57%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 4-0 (11.22%) and 2-0 (10.55%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (3.15%), while for a Nimes win it was 0-1 (0.88%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 12.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 3-0 win for Paris Saint-Germain in this match.
