There are several fixtures to look forward to in the French Ligue 1 on Saturday and the first of those is an afternoon kick-off between Montpellier and Paris Saint-Germain. The game will be played at Stade de la Mosson and there is sure to be a strong and vocal backing for the home team as they aim to defeat the champions.
Montpellier come into the weekend fixtures sitting in 6th place in the table with 24 points to their name. They are currently just 2 points adrift of 3rd place in the League which is the final qualifying spot for the Champions League next season. Their previous match was an away game against Dijon and Montpellier fell behind courtesy of an early own goal but came back to take the lead before half time. However, Dijon scored an equaliser in the second half and the match ended 2-2.
Despite failing to hold onto the lead, the draw means Montpellier are unbeaten in their last 7 games in all competitions. They have won 3 of those matches with the wins coming over Nancy at home in the Coupe de la Ligue plus Toulouse and Amiens, also at home but in Ligue 1.
Trends show Montpellier are good at home and they have remained unbeaten in their last 7 games in Ligue 1 at the Stade de la Mosson. They have won 6 of those matches including victories over Lyon, Nice and Monaco. Montpellier have scored at least 3 goals in 3 of their last 4 home Ligue 1 games.
Paris Saint-Germain also played on Wednesday night and recorded a 2-0 home win over Nantes. That result was enough to see them maintain their 5 point lead over 2nd place Marseille as they aim to defend their title. PSG are undefeated in their last 5 games in all competitions, winning 4 and drawing one of those matches.
Three of those victories have come in Ligue 1, with the other in the Champions League at home against Club Brugge.
Away form in Ligue 1 shows PSG have won 5 of their last 6 games with the only defeat coming at Dijon back at the beginning of November. Trends show that in 9 of Paris St. Germain's 12 most recent away games in Ligue 1, both teams scored and they have seen over 2.5 goals in each of the last 3 on the road.
Team news and Montpelier are without injured midfielder Jordan Ferri and defender Nicolas Cozza. Kylian Kaiboue is a doubt as he works his way back from a knee problem.
PSG travel with doubts over the fitness of 4 players. Ander Herrera, Eric Choupo-Moting, Loïc Mbe Soh and Marco Verratti are all struggling to make the game.
This will not be an easy match for PSG and they cannot afford to drop points with Marseille in good form. The defending champions may not keep a clean sheet in this match but certainly have the firepower in attack to score the goals required to win the game. An away win with both teams scoring seems a likely outcome.