Reigning Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain welcome last season’s runners-up Lens to the Parc des Princes on Saturday evening.
PSG finished just one point clear of Lens last term, with the Blood and Gold pushing the perennial champions all the way before ultimately falling short.
Wednesday at Campus PSG. 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/nc1Q4yO9mE— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) August 23, 2023
Wednesday at Campus PSG. 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/nc1Q4yO9mE
That said, both sides are still waiting for their first league win of the 2023-24 campaign, despite already playing two matches.
Paris Saint-Germain were held to a goalless draw by Lorient on the opening weekend, despite racking up 78% possession and 20 shots on home soil.
It is also worth noting that PSG prevented Lorient from registering a single attempt on target at the Parc des Princes, but the hosts failed to find a way through.
Luis Enrique’s side were held to another draw last weekend, playing out a 1-1 stalemate with Toulouse, despite notching 77% possession and 16 shots.
Kylian Mbappe gave PSG the lead from the penalty spot midway through the second half, but an 87th-minute Zakaria Aboukhlal strike ensured that the spoils were shared.
As for Lens, they suffered a 3-2 defeat at Brest on the opening weekend, throwing away a 2-0 lead at Stade Francis-Le Ble.
Goals from Florian Sotoca and Deiver Machado saw Lens race into a 2-0 lead inside 22 minutes, but they ended up conceding three goals, while Adrien Thomasson saw red.
Once again, Lens took an early lead last weekend when Machado scored after just three minutes against Rennes, but the visitors eventually picked up a point.
It goes without saying that Lens manager Franck Haise will be eager for his team to hold onto leads going forward, as they have already dropped multiple points from winning positions.
Head-to-head: Lens claimed a 3-1 home victory over PSG last weekend, although PSG gained their revenge with a 3-1 win on home soil.
With two PSG wins, two Lens wins and two draws coming in the past six meetings, Saturday’s showdown looks set to be a close-fought battle.
Team news: PSG’s lengthy injury list contains Juan Bernat, Presnel Kimpembe, Alexandre Letellier, Nuno Mendes, Nordi Mukiele and Sergio Rico.
On the flip side, Lens will be without the injured trio of Wuilker Farinez, Jimmy Cabot and Wesley Said on Saturday.
Given that both sides have made a slow start to the 2023-24 season, PSG and Lens are expected to play out a tense and cagey clash this weekend.
Forebet predicts that Paris Saint-Germain and Lens will serve up a low-scoring draw, with both sides netting under 1.5 goals.