Mauricio Pochettino will be eyeing further success after winning his first piece of silverware as a manager when Paris Saint-Germain travel to Angers for Saturday's Ligue 1 battle.
The visitors defeated Marseille 2-1 in the Trophee des Champions on Wednesday evening, whereas Angers have had a full week to recover from their crushing defeat at Monaco.
Match preview
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An unlikely spot in European competition is still very much a possibility for Angers, but the manner of their defeat at Monaco has done them no favours in the battle for the top five.
Guillermo Maripan, Kevin Volland and Stevan Jovetic all helped themselves to goals against Stephane Moulin's men, who saw their unbeaten streak come to a grinding halt at the Stade Louis II, although they will be thankful that none of the teams around them managed to prevail at the weekend either.
Only three points separate the seventh-placed Scoistes from a European berth as things stand, although sixth-placed Marseille have played two fewer matches and can steer themselves clear with victory over Nimes a few hours before Angers do battle with PSG.
Moulin's men had begun the New Year in remarkable fashion with a 2-1 win at Lille, but a humbling defeat to fellow European hopefuls Monaco served as a harsh reality check for this weekend's hosts, and the 30 goals that they have already shipped this season is their most at this stage since the 1980-81 season.
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Mauricio Pochettino tried and failed to lead Tottenham Hotspur to a trophy between 2014 and 2019, but two weeks into his PSG reign, the Argentine finally has a piece of silverware to his name.
Les Parisiens - boosted by the highly-anticipated return of Neymar - overcame Marseille 2-1 in the Trophee des Champions as the Brazilian struck from 12 yards following Mauro Icardi's opener, and the champions laid down a marker with that victory ahead of the second half of the season.
PSG have faltered in their quest for a fourth-straight Ligue 1 triumph, but the perennial champions are clearly not prepared to relinquish their stronghold on the French football scene just yet, and only one point separates Pochettino's men from first-placed Lyon heading into gameweek 20.
Lyon will certainly be expected to maintain their position atop the rankings as they host Metz on Sunday, but PSG would get back on their perch for at least 24 hours with victory at Angers, which is sure to act as a motive for Pochettino's side to build on their midweek success.
PSG have prevailed in their last 10 meetings with Angers across all competitions, with the hosts winless in a league encounter against Les Parisiens since 1975.
Angers Ligue 1 form: DLDWWL
Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1 form: LWDWDW
Paris Saint-Germain form (all competitions): WDWDWW
Team News
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Angers could potentially be boosted by the return of former Southampton winger Sofiane Boufal for this tie, with the 27-year-old spending the last month on the sidelines with a thigh problem.
Boufal is certainly not expected to start here, but Moulin could opt to make a change on the left-hand side of the attack regardless as Mathias Pereira Lage is in line to replace Pierrick Capelle.
Stephane Bahoken is pushing for a recall having gone four games without a start, and Lassana Coulibaly could come back into the hosts' midfield alongside Thomas Mangani.
Pochettino has been able to welcome a host of players back from the PSG medical room since assuming office, but the visitors are still without COVID-positive trio Colin Dagba, Rafinha and Thilo Kehrer.
Neymar should certainly come back into the first XI this weekend, while Danilo Pereira and Presnel Kimpembe have both fully recovered from their respective injuries in a further boost to the champions.
However, Idrissa Gueye was nowhere to be seen on Wednesday after apparent stomach pains, but his ailment is not thought to be anything serious.
PSG announced on Friday that Pochettino has also returned a positive coronavirus test, so the Argentine will not be on the touchline for this one.
Angers possible starting lineup:
Bernardoni; Manceau, Traore, Thomas, Doumbia; Mangani, Coulibaly; Cabot, Fulgini, Lage; Bahoken
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Navas; Florenzi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Pereira, Paredes, Verratti; Di Maria, Mbappe, Neymar
We say: Angers 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain
PSG's defence is certainly not impenetrable, and Angers can afford to feel cautiously optimistic heading into what would be a true test of their European credentials. However, the champions are almost back at full strength and will be buoyed by claiming their maiden piece of silverware for the campaign.
Furthermore, with the prospect of Di Maria, Mbappe and Neymar all lining up from the first whistle, this should be a resounding win for Pochettino's side.
Top betting tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Paris Saint-Germain win with a probability of 74.85%. A draw had a probability of 15.5% and a win for Angers had a probability of 9.68%.
The most likely scoreline for a Paris Saint-Germain win was 0-2 with a probability of 11.48%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-3 (9.67%) and 1-2 (9.17%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.27%), while for an Angers win it was 2-1 (2.9%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 9.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Paris Saint-Germain would win this match.
