Ligue 1 | Gameweek 11

Nov 9, 2024 at 8pm UK

Stade Raymond Kopa

Angersvs.PSG

Match preview

While the 'galactico' strategy didn't pay off for PSG's Qatari owners in their pursuit of a Champions League title, their approach of building a young, thriving squad hasn't yielded the desired results either.

Managers at this club will always be judged on their European pedigree. The league title should be a given in the eyes of the owners, and Enrique is not meeting that test at the moment.

Wednesday's defeat, courtesy of Angel Correa's 93rd-minute goal, means the Spaniard has only won six of his 16 Champions League games in charge of the Parisians. He's also seen them slip outside the top 24 entirely.

PSG have been doing well in France this season, but if Enrique keeps having this kind of European form, he won't be saved by their excellent domestic performance.

The win against Lens last week was accompanied by a rare home clean sheet – just the second PSG have managed at the Parc des Princes in 14 games in Ligue 1 in 2024. They kept their cool to win 1-0 and stay six points clear at the top.

Before the game in Angers, the bad news for the home team is that PSG are even stronger when they're away from home. The thrashing of Marseille in the Le Classique two weeks ago extended their unbeaten run in Ligue 1 to 29 games, with 22 of those ending in victory.

The visitors are the clear favourites, but Angers shouldn't be written off as a lost cause. They've had a shaky start, but they've bounced back with a strong performance recently, losing just one of their last seven games.

As the outright favourites to be relegated pre-season, Angers have proved the naysayers wrong in recent weeks, moving out of the bottom three with eight points won in their last four games.

The turning point was an impressive draw away to Marseille last month. Unfortunately, Dujeux's team left Toulouse with just a point after missing a penalty that would have put them two goals up.

Angers made up for that by winning two games in a row. First, they beat fellow newly-promoted side Saint-Etienne, and then they beat Champions League competitors Monaco last weekend. That was the most surprising result in Ligue 1 so far this season.

Le SCO had a pretty poor season last year, with just 18 points from 38 games. But they're already over halfway to beating that tally this season, with 10 points from their opening 10 games.

It's looking pretty unlikely that Angers will win three games in a row here. They've lost 16 games in a row against PSG and haven't beaten the current French champions in almost 50 years.

Recent Performance

Angers Ligue 1 form:

DLDDWW

Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1 form:

DWDWWW

Paris Saint-Germain form (all competitions):

DWDWWL

Team News

Lucas Beraldo will be back in action for PSG after serving a one-match ban in the win over Lens, but fellow defenders Presnel Kimpembe and Lucas Hernandez remain sidelined.

Goncalo Ramos won't be back in action until 2025, and Randal Kolo Muani doesn't seem to be in Enrique's plans at the moment. So it looks like he'll be playing with a false nine again, probably either Marco Asensio or Lee Kang-in.

On Wednesday, there were again calls for goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to be held to account after he failed to keep out Correa's late strike, which saw Atletico take the win. This could see Matvey Safonov return to the starting line-up after his clean sheet in the win over Lens.

After another great win last week, there's no reason for Dujeux to change a thing with his Angers side, with no new injuries or suspensions to worry about going into this one.

Cédric Hountondji (thigh), Zinedine Ferhat (muscle), Sidiki Cherif (thigh) and Joseph Lopy (unknown) are already out with injuries and will remain out for the home side here.

Possible starting lineups

Angers possible starting lineup:

Fofana; Arcus, Biumia, Lefort, Hanin; Aholou, Belkebla, Abdelli; Allevinah, Niane, El Melali

Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:

Safonov; Hakimi, Lucas Beraldo, Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz; Dembele, Lee, Barcola