PSG vs Cerezo Osaka

Yanmar Stadium Nagai is the venue as Paris Saint-Germain and Cerezo Osaka square off in their first-ever summer friendly.

Luis Enrique’s touchline debut was a resounding success as PSG eased past newly-promoted Ligue 1 side Le Havre 2-0. However, a tepid 0-0 draw against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr last time out raised questions over PSG’s prolificacy in the midst of Kylian Mbappe’s exit talks. With the Frenchman frozen out of the team, Les Parisiens’ decent scoring record of netting 2+ goals in five of their last seven matches is in jeopardy. On a more positive note, after going three consecutive games without a clean sheet, the record-time Ligue 1 champions have registered back-to-back shutouts. But before holding Al-Nassr goalless, PSG had conceded at least once in four straight fixtures outside the Parc des Princes.

In the meantime, Cerezo Osaka have enjoyed an upturn in form in the build-up to this encounter, going from two successive losses by a single-goal margin to back-to-back victories by a two-goal margin. Both triumphs saw the Japanese outfit keep a first-half clean sheet, highlighting the potential for a cagey start. Against this backdrop, four of Cerezo’s last five outings have featured the opening goal within the first 25 minutes. It’s also worth noting that three of those five games witnessed over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet. Therefore, an action-packed contest could be on the cards, even though the odds cannot inspire much confidence with the ‘Sakura’ camp.