Paris Saint-Germain will be eager to recover from a run of two defeats in three Ligue 1 games when they welcome Stade de Reims to the French capital on Sunday night.
Although PSG remain at the summit of the Ligue 1 table, they sit just three points clear of second-placed Lens and five points above third-placed Marseille.
✨ H I S T O R Y ✨ The first Paris Saint-Germain player to score 5️⃣ goals in an official match, @KMbappe! ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️#USPCPSG pic.twitter.com/AgXya6kGXc— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) January 24, 2023
✨ H I S T O R Y ✨ The first Paris Saint-Germain player to score 5️⃣ goals in an official match, @KMbappe! ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️#USPCPSG pic.twitter.com/AgXya6kGXc
Meanwhile, Reims find themselves eleventh – 22 points behind PSG and 10 points clear of the relegation zone. Can William Still’s side inflict another shock defeat on the Parisians?
PSG avoided defeat in each of their opening 16 Ligue 1 matches this season, picking up 14 wins and two draws in the process.
Since then, however, they have suffered two losses in three league outings, losing 3-1 to Lens on New Year’s Day before recording a 1-0 defeat against Rennes.
That said, PSG head into Sunday’s clash on the back of a 7-0 victory over Pays de Cassel in the Coupe de France – thanks largely to Kylian Mbappe’s five-goal haul.
Having avoided defeat in each of their previous 28 home league matches, the Parisians are favoured to bounce back from their recent downturn on Sunday.
As for Reims, they have only managed to win five of their 19 Ligue 1 games this season – recording 10 draws and four losses along the way.
They have also scored just 21 goals this term, meaning only the division’s bottom four sides have netted fewer goals in 2022-23.
It is worth noting, however, that Reims are currently enjoying an 11-game unbeaten streak in Ligue 1, having claimed four wins and seven draws since their last loss.
Like PSG, Reims also secured a comfortable Coupe de France victory last time out – beating Les Herbiers 3-0 away from home.
Head-to-head: Back in October, Reims held PSG to a goalless draw. Despite seeing just 36% of the ball on that occasion, Reims racked up a whopping 24 shots.
That said, PSG have won five of their previous six meetings with Reims – scoring a total of 15 goals while keeping six clean sheets.
Team news: PSG are still without Presnel Kimpembe due to injury, meaning Marquinhos and Sergio Ramos should line up in defence this weekend.
As for Reims, they look set to be without the injured duo of Noah Jean Holm and Nathanael Mbuku for the trip to Paris.
Although PSG have struggled in the league of late, there is no hiding the fact that Reims have failed to score against the Parisians in each of their last six meetings.
Forebet predicts that PSG will flex their muscles on Sunday, scoring over 1.5 goals and keeping a clean sheet on their way to victory over Reims.