PSG vs Strasbourg

Reigning Ligue 1 holders Paris Saint-Germain will be desperate for a win when they meet bottom-half Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes.

Paris Saint-Germain bounced back from a humiliating 4-1 Champions League defeat at Newcastle United with a comprehensive 3-1 victory away to Rennes on the stroke of October’s international break. But despite spending the pause inside Ligue 1’s top three, only two points adrift of table-topping Monaco, this still represents PSG’s worst eight-game start to a new top-flight season since 2014/15 (W4, D3, L1). With a large chunk of Luis Enrique’s squad representing their countries on international level, it may not be surprising they’ve followed up the previous two breaks with a home league defeat, including a 3-2 loss to Nice in September. But ‘Les Parisiens’ will be confident about avoiding that fate here, knowing they’ve never lost a competitive H2H against Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes (W27, D8).

Considering their dreadful record in Paris, making history is the only way for Strasbourg to put a stop to their first run of back-to-back league defeats since April. Achieving that feat would propel Patrick Vieira’s side back to the top half of the table, though their three-game away league record against the French manager (W1, L2) doesn’t inspire much confidence. Moreover, Strasbourg’s disastrous first-half performances under Vieira have seen them fail to get on the scoresheet before halftime in all eight Ligue 1 outings this season (HT: D4, L4). As the only Ligue 1 side yet to score in the first half, it’s unsurprising ‘Le Racing’ have lost both away league games against current top-three sides this term ‘to nil.’