Following an impressive win over Olympique de Marseille last Sunday, Paris Saint-Germain must now turn their attention to Ligue 2 side Chamois Niortais FC as they look to advance to the quarterfinals of the Coupe de France.
The match is likely a forgone conclusion given the standings (and finances) of both teams and it will take a historical “cupset” for PSG not to advance. Chances of that happening are pretty slim given the fact that Unai Emery’s squad has defeated FC Barcelona and Marseille in the month of February by a combined score of 9-1.
Niort deserve some respect for getting to this stage in the competition. It’s worth noting that PSG have struggled the last two seasons against non-Ligue 1 competition in the Coupe de France (1-0 wins over AJ Auxerre and ES Wasquehal). Niort, coming off two losses on the bounce, won’t exactly be heading into the game with any serious hopes of winning but PSG will know they have to concentrate and kill the game off as early as possible.
They [Niort] have some interesting players, they like to play attacking football with link-up play and they like to score goals. Still, against us, they could well change the way they play, as a lot of our opponents do. We did our analysis and now we’re working. We need to just think about ourselves and what we need to do to be superior to our opponents. – Unai Emery, PSG.fr
There will be a number of notable absentees from PSG’s squad including Thiago Motta, Marco Verratti, Adrien Rabiot, Hatem Ben Arfa, and Angel Di Maria. Grzegorz Krychowiak, Giovani Lo Celso, and Jean-Kevin Augustin have been included for the trip after long spells out of the side this season.
Starting XI Prediction
(4-1-4-1) Areola; Aurier, Silva, Kimpembe, Maxwell; Krychowiak; Lucas, Nkunku, Pastore, Draxler; Guedes
Competition for a place in the team is heating up this season and some rotation will give a few of the substitutes a chance to impress the manager. With many starters missing in the midfield, Krychowiak, who many expected would play a key role this season, is poised to make his return in front of the defense. Emery could field a very attacking side and some are speculating that Gonçalo Guedes and Lo Celso could start for the first time since arriving last January.
Goncalo Guedes & Giovani Lo Celso to both start for PSG away at Niort tomorrow? #CNFCPSG #CdF https://t.co/CGPZoZqML2
— Jonathan Johnson (@Jon_LeGossip) February 28, 2017
Score Prediction
Niort 0-10 PSG
Paris have been in a free-scoring mood in the Coupe de France this season, 11 goals in only two matches. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they ended up getting double figures here. Last season, they came close to that number by putting nine past Troyes AC, so why not?
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I Think Lo Celso should be started over the Fragile Pastore who will be more useful in the coming days than in today’s match. Guedes and Lucas on the flanks and Augustin to strike to at least give Cavani much needed rest before the match against Nancy and the all important away match against Barca. Krychowiak and Nkunku in the midfield.