Paris Saint-Germain vs Montpellier

Parc des Princes is the venue as perennial Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain take on long-standing strugglers Montpellier.

Paris Saint-Germain got their Ligue 1 title defense off to a flying start, thumping Le Havre 4-1 on the road in their first league outing without departed superstar Kylian Mbappe. Back to the Parc des Princes, where they lifted a record-extending 12th Ligue 1 title last term, Les Parisiens are keen to improve on a mediocre home form from 2023/24, which saw them win just over 50% of their home league games (W9, D6, L2). Despite that underwhelming record, they were fascinating to watch, with 65% of their top-flight matches in Paris last season featuring over 3.5 goals. Another goal-glutted contest is well on the cards, knowing the reining champions have netted a minimum of four goals in five of their last seven home league clashes against Montpellier (W7).

Since a scoreless draw in March 2016, the visitors have lost all eight Ligue 1 visits to Paris via multi-goal margins, casting significant doubt on their hopes of staging an upset on matchday two following an uninspiring league start. Montpellier hauled back a second-half deficit to hold Strasbourg to a 1-1 home draw on the opening weekend, making it three consecutive league games without a win (D2, L1). Adding to manager Michel Der Zakarian’s skepticism, his men lost both top-flight H2Hs against PSG last term by 3+ goal margins, accounting for almost 20% of the league goals they conceded on their way to another mid-table finish. However, Montpellier had strung together an outstanding six-game unbeaten away league run toward the end of last season (W4, D2), indicating they will not go down without a fight.