Before the 2021/22 Ligue 1 season gets underway, Lille and Paris Saint-Germain go head-to-head in the Trophée des Champions (French Super Cup) on Sunday night.
Following seven titles in eight years for PSG, Lille managed to win the Ligue 1 title last season – finishing just one point clear of the capital club.
Focus on the Trophée des Champions 💥#PSGLOSC pic.twitter.com/sngB2gqgxi— LOSC Lille EN (@LOSC_EN) July 28, 2021
Focus on the Trophée des Champions 💥#PSGLOSC pic.twitter.com/sngB2gqgxi
PSG booked their place in the 2021 Trophée des Champions winning the Coupe de France last term – dispatching Monaco 2-0 in the final.
Lille only lost three of their 38 Ligue 1 matches last season, picking up 24 wins and 11 draws along the way.
They also finished the campaign with the best defensive record in the division, conceding a measly 23 goals.
It’s fair to say that Lille’s pre-season results haven’t been great, though. They have only managed to win one of their five pre-season friendlies, recording one draw and three losses in the process.
In their previous two outings, Lille were beaten by two Portuguese sides – losing 1-0 to Benfica before going down 2-0 to Porto.
If they pick up where they left off in their pre-season friendlies, they could find themselves struggling to compete with PSG.
Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino’s men have enjoyed a far better run off results during their pre-season friendlies.
They have picked up three wins and two draws across their previous five games, beating Le Mans, Augsburg and Orleans.
When you look at the bigger picture, PSG haven’t lost any of their last ten games in all competitions – recording seven wins and three draws in that time.
The Parisians will no doubt be eager to get their revenge over Lille after missing out on the top-flight title last season.
Head-to-head: It is worth pointing out that Lille have only lost one of their previous three meetings with PSG.
That said, PSG have won three of the last five games between the two sides – scoring over 1.5 goals on each occasion.
Team news: Lille lost a couple of key players over the summer, including goalkeeper Mike Miagnan to AC Milan and midfielder Boubakary Soumare to Leicester.
On the flip side, PSG have signed a host of notable names, with Achraf Hakimi, Danilo Pereira, Georginio Wijnaldum, Sergio Ramos and Gianluigi Donnarumma joining the club.
Although Lille are likely to put up a decent fight on Sunday, PSG’s superiority is expected to shine through.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that PSG will win the 2021 Trophée des Champions with a high-scoring victory over Lille.