On Sunday evening, fans of French "Ligue 1" will witness a long-awaited football showdown: "Monaco" will host the team of "Paris Saint-Germain" at home.
The beginning of the clash between the two leading teams in the French championship: 10:00 PM.
Tournament situation
After thirteen matches, "Paris Saint-Germain" has 35 points, putting them at the top of the "Ligue 1" table. "Monaco," with 29 points, is the closest pursuer of PSG and holds the second position.
Teams' form
"Monaco" team has not been shining in recent times: in the last "Ligue 1" round, they lost points to a mid-table team "Amiens," and in the middle of the week in the Champions League, they suffered a crushing defeat at home, losing 1:4 to "RB Leipzig" players. After this loss, "Monaco" no longer has even theoretical chances of reaching the next stage of the Champions League.
PSG's situation is completely different - this season, the team that has not yet experienced a defeat in the "Ligue 1" championship has secured three consecutive crushing victories, and in the Champions League, the team has been calm after facing opponents for four matches.
Teams news
In the host team's ranks, injured defender Djibril Sidibe will be missing, and the team will provide answers regarding the possibilities of two other players joining the lineup just before the match. "Monaco" hopes that in this match they will already be able to rely on the services of Thomas Lemar and Stevan Jovetic, but it is most likely that at least the first mentioned will miss the upcoming clash.
"Paris Saint-Germain" has only one missing player, Thiago Motta, on the injury list, and Lucas Moura, who missed the midweek Champions League match, is expected to return to the lineup.
Predicted starting line-ups:
"Monaco": Subasic; Jorge, Jemerson, Glik, Raggi; Rony Lopes, Fabinho, Tielemens; Keita, Carrillo, Falcao.
"Paris Saint-Germain": Areola; Kurzawa, Silva, Marquinhos, Alves; Pastore; Rabiot, Verratti; Neymar, Cavani, Mbappe.
Interesting facts
This season, "Paris Saint-Germain" has not yet suffered a defeat (17 wins, 2 draws).
PSG, with 43 goals, is the most productive team in the "Ligue 1" championship, while "Monaco," having scored 35 times, holds the second position in the league in this indicator.
For the first time, Paris team's forward Kylian Mbappe, who still belongs to "Monaco" team, which loaned the player to PSG for years, should step onto the field against his former team. The Frenchman will become a full member of this team only next summer when the mandatory buyout clause of 180 million euros in the loan agreement is activated.
In these matches, we will also see the two most prolific players in the "Ligue 1" - "Paris Saint-Germain" representative Edinson Cavani leads the scorers' classification with 15 accurate shots, while Radamel Falcao with 13 goals ranks second.
This will be the fifth clash between these teams in 2017, and so far "Monaco" has not yet scored a victory, losing twice in the French cup and once in the Super Cup match (1 draw, 3 defeats).
Nevertheless, counting only appearances in the "Ligue 1" championship, "Monaco" has not lost in the last three clashes with these teams (2 wins, 1 draw).
"Paris Saint-Germain" has not left a match without scoring at least two goals in the last ten matches.
These teams have won the last five French championships: last year, the triumphant "Monaco" won one title, and PSG - four.
