Before the domestic campaign resumes next week, Paris Saint-Germain will face Quevilly in a friendly at Centre d'entrainement Ooredoo on Wednesday.
Last Friday, PSG edged Paris FC 2-1, while Les rouges-et-jaunes drew Stade Laval 1-1 in their previous encounter.
Match preview
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As we all might have expected, last week, Les Parisiens dominated their friendly versus Ligue 2 side Paris FC with 10 efforts on target, 65% of the ball and nearly twice as many passes as their opponents (569-301).
While manager Christophe Galtier did not have a full squad to choose from with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe still competing at the World Cup, the pause to the campaign has allowed the Marseille-born coach to give his bench players more game time and bring in some of their rising youngsters.
Even without those two stars and Neymar, PSG scored multiple goals in a game last Friday for a seventh successive encounter in all competitions.
There is no denying the individual attacking quality they possess, though this team have looked sharp and organised along the backline lately, conceding a goal or fewer in their previous five matches in all competitions.
Wednesday will be the third time they face a second-tier French side this season, with the reigning Ligue 1 champions outscoring their opponents in the previous two friendlies 4-1, defeating Quevilly 2-0 in July.
You have to go back to February for the last time this team lost a match of any sort, falling 3-1 and exiting from the Champions League knockout stage versus Real Madrid, which was also the last time they went on to lose a game when leading at the half.
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Throughout the 2022-23 campaign, the club from Le Petit-Quevilly have rarely helped or hurt themselves in their domestic competition.
Fabien Mercadal's men have six draws so far in Ligue 2, despite being in a winning position in three of those games, as those six points dropped could have them up to fifth in the table and within four points off Bordeaux for a promotion into the top flight.
Indeed, Quevilly have missed numerous opportunities to move up the table during this campaign, conceding three second-half goals in their last three domestic affairs.
After going winless in their first four away games of the domestic campaign, they have improved on the road, currently unbeaten in their last five league contests outside Quevilly, posting three clean sheets over that stretch.
Even though this team have failed to seize moments in several matches this season, they are still in a better position than we saw in 2021-22, with 18 points after 15 domestic encounters, one more point than they had at this stage of their previous campaign.
Given that this small club was on the cusp of relegation from the Championnat National in 2019-20, they have grown tremendously since then and have shown they can compete against some of the experienced sides in Ligue 2.
Team News
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Nordi Mukiele scored his first goal in PSG colours last week, Ismael Gharbi notched the winner and Les Parisiens found the back of the net once more, though Younes El Hannach's strike was an own goal.
Galtier brought a youngster whose name is very familiar among PSG supporters as 15-year-old Ethan Mbappe, brother of prolific goalscorer Kylian, replaced Fabian Ruiz in the second half of their encounter last Friday, his first appearance with the senior side, while Hugo Ekitike started for the first time since October 1 versus Nice.
El Chadaille Bitshiabu made his first start of the season for Les Parisiens in central defence, playing alongside Sergio Ramos, Danilo Pereira sat out because of a broken rib and Nuno Mendes remains sidelined with a thigh injury.
Till Cissokho and Louis Mafouta each scored for Quevilly in their previous domestic road fixture, which they won 2-0 when goalkeeper Nicolas Lemaitre was extraordinary, making seven stops to collect a clean sheet.
Garland Gbelle has just one goal domestically on this current campaign after scoring six a season ago, as this team is missing the presence of a solid number nine following the departure of Duckens Nazon, their top goalscorer in 2021-22.
Gustavo Sangare and Yann Boe-Kane are at risk of being suspended when their domestic campaign resumes on Boxing Day, though it would not affect their eligibility to play in that encounter should either be cautioned on Wednesday.
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Rico; Mukiele, Ramos, Bitshiabu, Bernat; Ruiz, Verratti, Soler; Ekitike, Gharbi, Housni
Quevilly possible starting lineup:
Lemaitre; Pendant, Cissokho, Ben Youssef, Sissoko; Pierret; Camara, Gbelle, Sangare, Soumare; Mafouta
We say: Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Quevilly
Quevilly have struggled against the stiff competition in Ligue 2 this season, losing to the top two teams (Le Havre and Bordeaux) by a combined score of 5-0 in two encounters.
We will not see the best PSG players in this one, but there are still plenty of high-class individuals for Galtier to call upon, and it is unlikely their backline will be threatened against a side who have failed to score in 18 matches in all competitions this year.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
