PSG vs Quevilly Rouen

Centre d’entraînement Ooredoo plays host to PSG’s seemingly routine warm-up showdown against lower-league Quevilly-Rouen.

Fresh from overcoming Quevilly’s fellow Ligue 2 rivals Paris FC 2-1 in their opening mid-season friendly, PSG will be looking to cap off their warm-up campaign on a high despite lacking a number of first-team stars. Since a brace of low-scoring draws against Benfica and Reims in early October, Christophe Galtier’s men have hit a purple patch, racking up an intimidating eight-match winning streak. Yet it’s worth noting that five of those eight triumphs have yielded a narrow one-goal margin, suggesting PSG’s game lack conviction. That shouldn’t temper with Paris’ bid to maintain their 100% H2H win ratio against Quevilly, having won both previous duels without conceding. But with just one clean sheet from their last six outings, that narrative may change this midweek.

As for Quevilly-Rouen, a 1-1 draw with fellow second-tier opposition Laval in their solitary mid-season exhibition contest this winter has taken their unbeaten streak to two matches (W1, D1). By extension, ‘Les rouges et jaunes’ have only lost one of their last nine outings within regulation time (W4, D4), mainly due to their watertight backline. Indeed, Fabien Mercadal’s lads have registered four shutouts across their last eight matches, indicating PSG’s second-string line-up may not have a walk in the park as it may appear at first glance. Yet playing outside Stade Robert Diochon tends to throw Quevilly into disarray, as evidenced by their poor return of just one win from their last four away games (D2, L1).