What: French Ligue 1
Who: Paris Saint-Germain vs Lille
When: Sunday 27th January, 2013, at 20:00 UK Time
Where: Parc des Princes, Paris, France
Carlo Ancelotti’s Men Back On Top
In another close French title race, PSG edged back to the top of the table last weekend after a suitably hard fought 1-0 win at Bordeaux. That moved them ahead of Lyon on goal difference and as usual it was Zlatan Ibrahimovic who found the net for the Parisians. However, Lyon's weekend win means PSG must respond again.
Carlo Ancelotti has struggled to impose an identity on this team since arriving in January 2012, but the Parisians are enjoying arguably their best form since his arrival. Following a shock 2-1 defeat to Nice in the middle of December, they have yet to even concede a goal in the league (although they did let in three against fifth tier Arras in the Coupe de France). Yet PSG have not been entirely convincing in their last two league games, the battling win over Bordeaux and a 0-0 home draw with struggling Ajaccio. They could be forgiven for having their minds elsewhere however, after the tragic news that their English performance manager, Nick Broad, was killed in a road accident last Thursday at the age of just 38.
This time last season PSG were four points better off and were three clear of eventual champions Montpellier. Ancelotti needs to find a way to get his team motoring at full throttle if they are to take charge of the title race. All three of the title contenders have shown weakness of late and none seem able to find consistency. PSG do have the advantage of being able to watch comfortably as Marseille and Lyon are raided for their best players during the transfer window. But it still feels though that whoever manages to put together the best string of results to get some momentum behind them will win the league now. With the Champions League returning next month, it is imperative the Parisians do that sooner rather than later.
Impotent Lille Fire Blanks
Rudi Garcia has some job on his hand trying to qualify for the Champions League again this season. Lille have been abject for much of the campaign and have won just two of their last nine league games. The 2011 champions sit in 11th place and are closer in points to the relegation battle than the title chase. They did at least show some character in midweek against fourth tier amateur side Plabennec. In a country where stunning cup upsets are almost the norm, it was set up as a classic opportunity for a Ligue 1 team to be shocked as Lille went behind. Yet they fought back well to win 3-1 and progress.
There is no doubt that this is a difficult transition which Garcia is attempting to make at Lille. It is notable how, of those players who started as Lille won the 2011 title with a 2-2 draw at the Parc des Princes against PSG, only Aurelien Chedjou and captain Rio Mavuba are still there.
With Salomon Kalou and Ryan Mendes representing the Ivory Coast and Cape Verde respectively at the African Cup of Nations, the pressure will be on Nolan Roux and Dmitri Payet to come up with the goods going forward. A 2-0 home defeat to Nice and former coach Claude Puel deepened Lille’s problems and it will take a significant turnaround to force them back into the race for a European place. It is far from out of their reach though if they can somehow start scoring regularly.
Recent form
PSG:
PSG 0-0 Ajaccio (11/01; Ligue 1)
Bordeaux 0-1 PSG (20/01; Ligue 1)
PSG 3-1 Toulouse (23/01; Coupe de France)
Lille:
Saint-Etienne 0-0 [7-6 pens) Lille (15/01; Coupe de la Ligue)
Lille 0-2 Nice (20/01; Ligue 1)
Plabennec 1-3 Lille (24/01; Coupe de France)
Key absences
PSG: Kevin Gameiro (doubt); Thiago Silva; Zoumana Camara; Mathieu Bodmer; Alex
Lille: Rio Mavuba (doubt); Salomon Kalou; Ryan Mendes; Franck Beria
Players to watch
PSG – Lucas Moura. The winger who moved from Sao Paulo at the start of the month has been thrust straight into the first team by Ancelotti. Moura is following the path trodden by Ronaldinho, who made his name at the Parc des Princes before moving to Barcelona. With Thiago Silva, Alex and Maxwell around him, he has the ‘Brazilian family’ in situ to help make his transition to Paris all the easier. Moura really impressed in his first game, despite his team only drawing with Ajaccio, and had to be substituted five minutes from time after pulling up with cramp. His work rate and dribbling can cause no end of problems for Lille in this game.
Lille – Marvin Martin: The playmaker has been unable to show his best form since arriving at Lille in the summer from Sochaux. He has however been integral to Garcia, helping keep the rhythm of the team and their impressive passing statistics high. Only Lyon can match Lille’s average possession this season. Turning that into something more tangible going forward is the big problem for Lille, and so all eyes will be on Martin, who was chased by PSG in the summer, to see whether he can find a way of breaching their excellent defence.
Match Prediction
If Lille can manage to stop Zlatan Ibrahimovic, they do have a chance. However that is a big ‘if’. It took just 27 seconds for the Swede to open the scoring when these two met earlier in the season and Ibrahimovic scored a second that night to give PSG a 2-1 win.
Given that Lille are the division’s 12th top scorers, even if they can stop Ibrahimovic it is doubtful whether they can breach the league’s best defence, which has not conceded for over a month in Ligue 1. For a team who try to play attractive, passing football and were just a couple of years ago dubbed the French Barcelona, Garcia will be alarmed at having the least prolific forward line since he arrived at Lille in 2008. They are reliant on Nolan Roux and Dmitri Payet, neither of whom have been particularly consistent in front of goal. No other player has scored more than two for Lille. At least their defence is still reasonably solid. They haven’t conceded more than two in any game so far this season, so the likely outcome here is a two goal home win. PSG 2-0 Lille.
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