Lorient vs PSG

Lorient and PSG are set to trade tackles at the Stade du Moustoir in a top-four Ligue 1 six-pointer.

Lorient have gone from last season’s whipping boys into legitimate top-four candidates in Ligue 1 in a few months and will be keen to extend a two-game unbeaten home league run against PSG (W1, D1). But following an eye-catching ten-game top-flight start (W8, D1, L1), ‘Les Merlus’ have seemingly run out of steam, going winless in three consecutive Ligue 1 matches ahead of this clash (D2, L1), including a heartbreaking 2-1 home defeat to Nice last time out. Conceding first may not prove an unbridgeable setback for Regis Le Bris’ men as they’ve rescued a league joint-high eight points from losing positions this season. That’s the fighting spirit Lorient will have to muster this weekend if they’re to avoid losing back-to-back Ligue 1 games for the first time this season.

In the meantime, PSG squeezed past Juventus’ understrength team 2-1 in midweek Champions League action but eventually had to settle for an underwhelming runner-up finish in Group H, courtesy of Benfica’s superior goal difference. Christophe Galtier have not time to moan about their European frustrations as they need to extend an outrageous 11-game unbeaten Ligue 1 streak on the road (W9, D2) to fend off second-placed Lens. That shouldn’t be too much of a deal for ‘Les Parisiens,’ considering they’ve registered 12 wins across their last 15 top-flight H2Hs against Lorient (D2, L1). On top of that, the reigning Ligue 1 champions have kept five successive league clean sheets on hostile turf and could set a new club record with a shutout against Lorient.