When defending champions Paris Saint Germain take to the field against LOSC Lille at the Stade Pierre Mauroy on Sunday night, their only goal would be making it three wins from three matches to begin their Ligue 1 2022/23 on a more than perfect note under new manager Christophe Galtier. The Parisians have already begun their title defence in resounding fashion following comfortable victories over Clermont and Montpellier. Meanwhile, their opponents heading into this clash are also unbeaten with four points on the board already.
Following their surprising triumph with the Ligue 1 conquest in the 2020-21 season at the expense of PSG, Lille have experienced a much more difficult campaign last season after the departure of the manager who led them to domestic glory and will now be presiding over the opposition dugout, Christophe Galtier. Lille could only manage 10th place in the French league last season and it was a disappointing season from every quarter.
As a result, they have appointed Paulo Fonseca as the new boss over the summer and Les Dogues are entering a new season with plenty of renewed optimism. They began their Ligue 2022/23 season with a dominant win over newly-promoted side Auxerre.
Benjamin David and Jonathan David both got on the scoresheet to make it 2-0 in favour of Lille with just four minutes on the click. David then grabbed his second goal of the night to make it a brace before Akim Zedadka then stretched their lead to four. Although Gaetan Charbonnier scored for the opposition, it proved to be nothing more than a consolation and represented just a blot in what was a rather impressive day at the office for Fonseca and co.
Lille then made the trip to Nantes last weekend. While Moses Simon gave the hosts the lead of the contest to peg Lille back, they were able to bounce back with a second-half equalizer from Ismaily. This allowed Les Dogues to return to the city with an important as they are still unbeaten after two matches in the French top flight.
They will be hoping to extend that unbeaten start to three matches in a row but an insurmountable challenge awaits them given the strength of the opposition that they’re up against. PSG snatched the title off them last season and are being led by the same manager who catalysed and catapulted them to domestic triumph just the season before.
After leading Lille to become champions of France against all odds, Christophe Galtier spent a year with Nice before finding his calling to the country capital and taking over the biggest team in France, Paris Saint Germain. Former boss Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure ended disappointingly and Galtier has now been handed the keys to managing players like Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Lionel Messi, Marquinhos, Marco Verratti, Achraf Hakimi, and Sergio Ramos and make sure that all of them get along.
That animosity and turmoil that braces the PSG dressing room also became the key talking point after their most recent 5-2 thumping of Montpellier. While Neymar and Mbappe both got on the scoresheet, arguments regarding penalty duties as well as Mbappe showing poor body language on the field confirmed rumours that not all is too well inside the PSG dressing room that seems to be split into factions. In fact, most of the issues start to stem from the way Mbappe’s contract was renewed and given the extensive say he has on matters going on at the club.
On the pitch, however, it hardly has been a cause of concern for Christophe Galtier who already saw his side adding silverware this season with PSG’s 4-0 thrashing of Nantes in the Trophee des Champions final which saw a brace form Neymar alongside goals from Messi and Sergio Ramos.
They also began their league campaign in rampant fashion and put five goals past Clermont Foot away from home without conceding any. Neymar once again got on the scoresheet, this time along with Hakimi and Marquinhos but it was Messi’s late brace of goals, which included a fine overhead kick, that became the major highlight of the match.
Against Montpellier, besides the goals from Neymar and Mbappe, new signing Renato Sanches also got on the scoresheet while Montpellier’s defender Falaye Sacko put one in his own goal.
The strong run of results mean that the defending champions could have hardly asked for a better start to the season as they have notched up six points from the available six and scoring a mammoth 14 goals in the process under their new boss. Ligue 1 dominance will be the primary criteria of judgement for Galtier but it would be foolish to think that results in the UEFA Champions League will not impact his stay at the club, as the likes of Unai Emery and Thomas Tuchel have found out over the years.
Paris Saint Germain are gunning for their ninth league title in 11 years and they will enter Sunday’s contest against the 2021 champions with the mindset of making it a third straight top-flight win and with the intent of extending their lead at the top of the table. Dealing a loss to Lille, who are also expected to be among the contenders for the domestic title this season, will also be high on the agenda list of their former manager Galtier.
LIL vs PSG, Ligue 1 2022/23
Date: 22nd August, 2022
Time: 12:15 AM IST
Venue: Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille
FORM GUIDE:
LOSC Lille Ligue 1 form:
- W-D
Paris Saint Germain Ligue 1 form:
- W-W
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
LOSC Lille: 12
Draws: 14
Paris Saint Germain wins: 25
TEAM NEWS:
LOSC Lille Team News:
Lille will have to make do without the services of Tiago Djalo who is suspended for this encounter against the defending champions on Sunday. Timothy Weah has also been sidelined with a major injury issue and this means that Mohamed Bayo will be expected to lead the line again. Jonathan David, who scored two goals in the opening fixture, will also be another important figure up top for Lille.
In the 4-2-3-1 setup that Fonseca likes to deploy, Angel Fomes should partner Benjamin Andre at the heart of the midfield. Portuguese international Jose Fonte, who is 38 years old, should continue to command the back line with his years of experience.
Paris Saint Germain Team News:
Christophe Galtier has an army of stars at his disposal at Paris Saint Germain even without the likes of Mauro Icardi, Julian Draxler, and Ander Herrera who don’t feature in his plans and the club is actively trying to sell heading into the final 10 days of the transfer window. Galtier will look to continue to deploy the 3-4-1-2 system he has been using.
Sergio Ramos, Presnel Kimpembe, and Marquinhos will marshal the back line as usual and new signing Renato Sanches will hope to start this clash against his former side after coming off the bench and scoring in the previous encounter against Montpellier.
Upfront the duo of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe is expected to take their usual places with Argentine star Lionel Messi in a free role dictating things from just behind them. Neymar has been red-hot form and has already scored five goals in just three competitive appearances so far this season and the Lille defence will have their work cut out for them if the Brazilian manages to hit his usual stride.
LOSC Lille possible starting lineup:
Leonardo; Zedadka, Fonte, Alexsandro, Gudmundsson; Andre, Gomes; David, Cabella, Bamba; Bayo
Paris Saint Germain possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Ramos, Marquinhos, Kimpembe; Hakimi, Verratti, Sanches, Mendes; Messi; Neymar, Mbappe
Predictions:
It is fair to say that under Christophe Galtier, Paris Saint Germain have looked like a rejuvenated side and all of their stars who were suffering from a lack of role clarity last season, seem to have been unlocked this time around. Although they are going to face their toughest test yet in the form of the 2020/21 Ligue 1 champions, one would expect the Parisians to come out on top.
Although Paulo Fonseca has injected fresh blood into the side and they should cause PSG some problems over the course of the game, the visitors have been in outrageous form in front of goal and the likes of Neymar, Mbappe and Messi might be too strong for the Lille defence to keep quiet for the duration of 90 minutes.
LIL vs PSG Fantasy XI No. 1
LIL vs PSG Fantasy XI No. 2
