St Etienne v Paris Saint-Germain: Match Preview, Team News, Predicted XI | Ligue 1 2018-19
Paris Saint-Germain travel to St Etienne as they meet AS Saint Etienne at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard after a very impressive victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the midweek.
St Etienne started the weekend in the fourth place but a victory for Marseille yesterday has seen them drop out of the top 4 of the Ligue 1. Les Verts will be hoping to continue with their winning momentum after ending a run of 4 matches without a win last weekend. A loss could see St Etienne going further down the table to 6th place, depending on Montpellier's match result.
With 2 games in hand and with a 10-point lead over the second-placed Lille, Thomas Tuchel and his men have one hand firmly on the title, unless they are to have a drastic drop in form which is almost not likely to happen. With their unbeaten run ended by Lyon, Tuchel will likely look to wrap up the Ligue 1 title as soon as possible.
The first encounter between the sides finished with PSG thrashing St Etienne 4-0 at the Parc des Princes.
Team News
St Etienne
Jean-Louis Gasset is likely to field the same players who played against Strasbourg in the last weekend with Mathieu Debuchy is the only player likely to be added to the starting XI in place of Kévin Monnet-Paquet to provide more of defensive stability.
Paris Saint-Germain
PSG are once again without their star South American duo of Edinson Cavani and Neymar. Thomas Meunier and Eric Chupa Moting are also unavailable for the fixture with the former suffering concussion last weekend while the latter was taken ill.
Leonardo Pardes is likely to be given a start after coming on as a substitute in the Champions League Round of 16 match against Manchester United.
Probable Lineups
St Etienne (3-4-1-2): Ruffier; Perrin, Subotic, Kolodziejczak; Debuchy, Bennasser, M'Vila, G.Silva; Cabella; Khazri, Beric
Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3): Buffon; Kehrer, Silva, Kimpembe, Bernat; Alves, Marquinhos, Paredes; Di Maria, Mbappe, Diaby