Newly-crowned Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain will be bidding to record their 25th league victory of the campaign when they travel to Strasbourg on Friday night.
PSG's 1-1 draw with Lens on Saturday proved enough for the capital giants to win the title, while European hopefuls Strasbourg are currently sixth in the table with four matches left.
Match preview
© Reuters
Strasbourg have punched above their weight in Ligue 1 this season, with a total of 56 points from 34 matches leaving them in sixth spot in the table, just one point behind fifth-placed Nice in the fight to qualify for the 2022-23 Europa League, while they are just three points behind fourth-placed Monaco.
Le Racing have finished 15th, 11th, 10th and 15th in France's top flight since earning promotion back to this level, it would be some story if they managed to secure a European finish in Ligue 1.
Julien Stephan's side will enter Friday's contest off the back of a 1-0 defeat at Lille on Sunday, with Zeki Celik deciding the match in the 87th minute to snatch a valuable point away from the visitors.
Strasbourg have been excellent at home in France's top flight this term, collecting 34 points from their 17 matches, with only PSG (47) and Rennes (37) boasting superior records at this stage.
The Blue and Whites have lost 16 of their last 23 matches against PSG, though, including each of the last four, with the reigning champions netting four times in their last three games versus their opponents here.
© Reuters
PSG, meanwhile, won Ligue 1 on Saturday courtesy of their 1-1 draw against Lens, with the point moving them onto 78 points from their 34 league matches during the 2021-22 campaign.
The capital giants have now won eight of the last 10 Ligue 1 titles, only being denied by Monaco (2017) and Lille (2021) during that period of time, and they have secured the trophy a record-equalling 10th time.
Reclaiming the French title must be seen as a huge positive, but they have fallen short in their two domestic cup competitions this term and were eliminated by Real Madrid in the last-16 stage of the Champions League, which is the trophy that the club really wanted to win this season.
Mauricio Pochettino's future as head coach is far from secure, while there is currently friction between some of the supporters and the players, and it will be interesting to see what happens during this summer's transfer window, especially as Kylian Mbappe's future is still unclear.
PSG are not under any pressure heading into their final four matches of the season against Strasbourg, Troyes, Montpellier and Metz, but they will want to remain professional and finish the campaign with as many points as possible.
- D
- W
- D
- D
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Strasbourg will again be missing Dimitri Lienard, Jean-Eudes Aholou, Nordine Kandil, Marvin Elimbi, Abdul Majeed Waris and Ismael Doukoure on Friday night.
The home side did not pick up any fresh issues against Lille last time out, though, and it would not be a surprise to see the same starting XI take to the field for this contest.
Kevin Gameiro has scored nine league goals this season and will take to the field against his former club here, while there should also be another start for Ludovic Ajorque, who has netted 12 times in France's top flight during the 2021-22 campaign.
As for PSG, Mauro Icardi, Julian Draxler and Leandro Paredes are definitely out of the match through injury, while the visitors are also sweating on the fitness of Abdou Diallo.
The champions will also be missing Idrissa Gueye through suspension, so there could be a spot in the middle of the park for Danilo alongside Marco Verratti.
Gianluigi Donnarumma will be hoping to come back into the side between the sticks, while Georginio Wijnaldum, Juan Bernat and Ander Herrera are also options for change.
Lionel Messi was on the scoresheet against Lens last weekend and will again feature alongside Neymar and Mbappe in the final third of the field.
Strasbourg possible starting lineup:
Sels; Guilbert, Perrin, Nyamsi, Djiku, Caci; Thomasson, Prcic, Bellegarde; Gameiro, Ajorque
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Marquinhos, Ramos, Kimpembe; Hakimi, Verratti, Danilo, Mendes; Messi, Mbappe, Neymar
We say: Strasbourg 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain
PSG might have already won the league, but this is still a huge match, as Strasbourg are fighting for a European finish. We are finding it difficult to back the champions to lose on Friday but believe that Strasbourg will have enough quality to secure a share of the spoils in front of their own supporters.
Matt Law
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 56.66%. A draw had a probability of 22.4% and a win for Strasbourg had a probability of 20.89%.
The most likely scoreline for a Paris Saint-Germain win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.11%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.9%) and 0-2 (9.47%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.58%), while for a Strasbourg win it was 1-0 (5.66%). The actual scoreline of 3-3 was predicted with a 1.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
