Focus on Paris St Germain as they face Liverpool

Big-spending Paris St Germain face the unthinkable prospect of failing to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages as they host Liverpool in the French capital.

Press Association Sport takes a closer look at the Ligue 1 champions.

Group situation

Group C is the tightest of them all with all four clubs separated by just two points. PSG are third on five points, one behind leaders Liverpool and Napoli, which means if they were to lose against Jurgen Klopp's side and their Serie A rivals were to beat Red Star Belgrade they would not be able to progress to the knockout phase. Liverpool will go through if they win and Red Star do not beat Napoli.

Form

PSG are expected to win Ligue 1 every season but even by their standards the current campaign has been impressive. They broke their own record with a 14th successive league victory from the start of the season against Toulouse at the weekend – without the injured Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. They have conceded just seven goals in that time and scored 46, already leading the table by 15 points. They have scored in every match this season and have found the net at least three times in 13 of their 19 games.

European record

PSG are seeking to reach the knockout phase for the seventh time. In four of those previous seasons they have lost in the quarter-finals but in the last two campaigns exited in the last 16. In the last seven seasons they have played 40 group games, winning 26, drawing eight and losing six. They have not lost at home in that time, winning 15 with five draws. Only once in those 20 games have they failed to score – against Real Madrid in 2015 – while they have scored 56 and conceded 14. In their last seven Champions League games at home they have scored 28 times.

Players to watch

It is not difficult to highlight the forward line of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani. The former two trained on Monday and Tuesday and manager Thomas Tuchel said they have recovered from injuries sustained on international duty and both will feature. The trio have scored 36 league goals between them already, sharing six in four Champions League fixtures to date. Midfielder Marco Veratti will give Liverpool something else to think about, having missed the defeat at Anfield through injury.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Carl Markham, Press Association Sport, Paris');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '44c07e09-6a84-4edc-bd86-1a9a12f984cb');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Focus on Paris St Germain as they face Liverpool'});