On the hunt for a fourth successive away victory across all competitions, reigning Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain travel to the Stade de la Meinau to tackle Strasbourg on Friday night.
Luis Enrique's men let a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw with Brest last time out, while their hosts also settled for a point in a 1-1 stalemate at home to Clermont.
Match preview
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Seven days prior to locking horns with Clermont in top-flight action, Strasbourg eliminated Les Lanciers from the Coupe de France with a 3-1 success at the Stade Gabriel-Montpied, but their hosts had evidently learned a few lessons from that knockout heartache.
Strasbourg were on course for back-to-back beatings of Clermont thanks to a close-range Moise Sahi Dion opener, but with 52 minutes gone, Shamar Nicholson latched onto Bilal Boutobba's defence-splitting pass and picked out the top corner to steal a point for Pascal Gastien's outfit.
A handful of opportunities for Clermont to take maximum spoils came and went for Les Lanciers, as Strasbourg travelled back to base having extended their unbeaten run to eight matches across all tournaments, a far cry from the losing crop of September and October.
By virtue of taking 12 points from their last six Ligue 1 contests, Vieira's sturdy side are enjoying mid-table obscurity in an unremarkable 10th place, and a nine-point gap separates Les Coureurs from both Monaco in fourth place and Lyon in the relegation playoff spot.
With only five points to make up to Reims in the Europa Conference League spot, though, Vieira's in-form troops ought not to be looking over their shoulder at this juncture, and the hosts welcome PSG to their Stade de la Meinau base on an impressive 10-match scoring streak in league and cup action.
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Strasbourg's prolific sequence certainly pales in comparison to that of the reigning champions, who were ostensibly cruising to victory against surprise package Brest on Sunday evening, in which Marco Asensio's sweetly-struck volley and Randal Kolo Muani's tap-in told the tale of the first half.
However, any energy-boosting snacks enjoyed by the Brest contingent during the break went down a treat, as Mahdi Camara's effort deflected off of Danilo Pereira to give Les Pirates hope, before Mathias Pereira Lage completed the comeback in the 80th minute with an exquisite near-post backheel.
PSG's second-half implosion also saw Bradley Barcola take the walk of shame for two bookable offences, as the Ligue 1 holders failed to make it six wins on the bounce in all competitions, but they coincidentally sit six points clear of Nice at the summit with a vastly superior goal difference.
Before attempting to put things right against Brest in the Coupe de France on February 7, Les Parisiens endeavour to make it 17 Ligue 1 away games without defeat since going down to Monaco in February 2023, and Enrique's men have shipped just one goal in their last 360 minutes of top-flight football on the road.
PSG have had their defence breached in their last two visits to the Stade de la Meinau, though - both of which have ended level - but the champions eased to a 3-0 Parc des Princes win over Vieira's side in October and have not suffered defeat to their hosts in any tournament since December 2017.
Team News
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Strasbourg's solitary Africa Cup of Nations representative, Saidou Sow, has qualified for the quarter-finals with Guinea and will remain absent for Les Coureurs, who should be working with the same troupe of players from their stalemate with Clermont.
Former PSG attacker Kevin Gameiro will likely be denied a reunion with his erstwhile employers due to a muscular strain, while Lebo Mothiba (knee), Jeremy Sebas (knee) and Ismael Doukoure (ankle) are also confined to the medical bay.
Vieira may have been tempted to revert to a five-man wall for the visit of the champions, but those plans have been thrown into disarray due to the deadline-day exit of Gerzino Nyamsi, who has joined Russian outfit Lokomotiv Moscow.
Goalkeeper Matz Sels is also en route to Nottingham Forest, so Moroccan 22-year-old Alaa Bellaarouch should be promoted to the first XI.
As for PSG, Achraf Hakimi's Morocco are out of the AFCON owing to a shock loss to South Africa in the last 16 - the right-back was guilty of fluffing his lines from the penalty spot in that 2-0 defeat - but it is unclear whether he will be considered for selection on Friday.
In contrast, Lee Kang-in's South Korea remain in contention for Asian Cup glory, while Layvin Kurzawa (back), Milan Skriniar (ankle), Nuno Mendes (hamstring), Presnel Kimpembe (Achilles) and Sergio Rico (head trauma) are all unavailable alongside the suspended Barcola, who was one of PSG's main threats against Brest before indiscipline took over.
Fringe goalkeeper Alexandre Letellier is an illness doubt but would only be warming the bench, and with talk of a possible move to Bayer Leverkusen likely leading to nowhere, Asensio ought to reprise his role in the PSG XI after a fine opener at the weekend.
Strasbourg possible starting lineup:
Bellaarouch; Senaya, Perrin, Sylla, Delaine; Mwanga, Sissoko, Diarra; Emegha, Dion, Bakwa
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Zaire-Emery, Pereira, Marquinhos, Hernandez; Asensio, Ugarte, Vitinha; Dembele, Kolo Muani, Mbappe
We say: Strasbourg 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain
Offensive incisiveness has come rather easily to Strasbourg over the past few weeks, but Vieira may very well opt to sacrifice his side's penchant for attacking in a bid to stifle an even more rampant PSG frontline.
Such tactics will likely prove futile against Enrique's side, though, especially with a couple of esteemed names expected to return to the visitors' XI, and the champions have been winning for fun on the road since the start of October.
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Ben Knapton
