Riding high and undefeated in Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain seek their 52nd Le Classique victory against second-placed Marseille in Sunday's gameweek 26 fixture at Parc des Princes.
Luis Enrique's men, 16 points ahead of their rivals, have been victorious in the last six top-flight meetings, including five without conceding, and the Parisians aim to extend their winning run over the Boys from Marseille to take another step toward a 13th league crown.
Match preview
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Fresh off defeating Liverpool on penalties during the week to advance to the Champions League quarter-final, PSG return to league action aiming for a seventh consecutive triumph and 21st overall to extend their lead atop the rankings.
Enrique's side enter the 26th round with a 16-point lead with nine games remaining as they saunter towards another Ligue 1 crown.
Undefeated on home turf all season, only Nantes and Lyon have prevented Les Rouge-et-Bleu from securing maximum points in 12 top-flight fixtures at Parc des Princes this term, with Toulouse the last visitors to stun the Parisians.
Since that May 2024 defeat, the French giants have gone 27 without losing in the competition, claiming 22 victories, with Les Parisiens' only dropped points in 1-1 draws with Reims (twice), Nice, Nantes and Auxerre.
Having won six league fixtures on the trot entering Sunday's contest, scoring three or more in five matches against Brest (5-2), Monaco (4-1), Lyon (3-2), Lille (4-1) and Rennes (4-1), the signs look ominous for Roberto De Zerbi's side, who lost the reverse fixture 3-0 and have fallen to two defeats in the last three.
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Les Olympiens head into Sunday's Le Classique on a four-match losing run in this fixture since a Coupe de France success in February 2023.
Following that 2-1 round of 16 triumph, Marseille have been significantly inferior in this rivalry, letting in 12 across the recent four matches without reply, with the Olympians conceding three or more in three match-ups and losing another 2-0.
Despite sitting second behind their unbeaten opponents, De Zerbi's men have little chance of realistically catching the league-leading hosts, who they trail by 16 points in the concluding nine rounds, meaning winning the runner-up battle is the Italian manager's principal target.
Marseille began the round on 49 points, three clear of third-placed Nice and five ahead of Monaco and Lille, and could have slipped to third before this weekend's match in Paris if the Eaglets secure a four-goal margin of victory over 11th-placed Auxerre on Friday.
Further magnifying Les Olympiens' dread is the team's two away defeats in the last three road games — failing to score in losses at Nice (2-0) and Auxerre (3-0), either side of a 2-0 success at Angers — with those two setbacks already more than the Boys from Marseille suffered in their previous 10 away trips (one reverse).
Despite notching nine away wins from 12 on the road, accruing six fewer away points (27) than PSG (33), recent frustrations and the past meetings against the Parisians point to another disappointment for De Zerbi's side.
Team News
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Although PSG have no missing players, having come through their Liverpool test without incident, Marquinhos will be assessed before Marseille visit Paris.
While Ousmane Dembele (20 goals) has outdone Bradley Barcola's Ligue 1 tally this term, the 13-goal man has scored one more match-winning goal than Dembele's four.
Strikingly, Dembele has netted the most home goals in Ligue 1 this term (10), four more than Barcola's six and Kang-in Lee's three heading into round 26's fixture.
The away side will rely on Mason Greenwood for final-third execution and decisiveness, with the 15-goal forward's four game-clinching efforts behind only Brest's Ludovic Ajorque, Strasbourg's Emanuel Emegha and Barcola (five).
Greenwood, who has scored eight away goals this term, has netted 28.8% of Marseille's 52 Ligue 1 strikes this term, ranking fourth behind 14-goal Jonathan David (35% of Lille's 40), 11-goal Arnaud Kalimuendo (31.4% of Rennes' 35) and eight-goal winger Keito Nakamura (30.8% of Reims' 26).
De Zerbi will be without the services of Amine Harit (calf), Faris Moumbagna (knee), Michael Murillo (hamstring), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (calf) and Ruben Blanco (knee) for Sunday's visit to Paris.
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Hakimi, Beraldo, Pacho, Hernandez; Neves, Vitinha, Ruiz; Dembele, Ramos, Barcola
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Cornelius, Balerdi, Kondogbia; Henrique, Bennacer, Rongier, Merlin; Greenwood, Rabiot; Gouiri
We say: Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 Marseille
It is hard to look beyond another win for PSG in the imminent Le Classique, with the free-scoring Parisians expected to record a seventh straight Ligue 1 triumph over Marseille to extend their lead atop the standings to 19.
While Enrique's men keeping one clean sheet in 11 top-flight matches at Parc des Princes should give De Zerbi's side hope of scoring, a side that have hit three or more in seven of said games should triumph on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
