On Friday, Paris Saint-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel spoke to the media ahead of the club’s final match of 2019 against Amiens SC on Saturday.
Tuchel revealed of the Ligue 1 clash that Presnel Kimpembe and Edinson Cavani will both miss the match due to injury while Abdou Diallo, Idrissa Gueye, and Julian Draxler return.
The final squad will be decided prior to kickoff but in training on Friday, three additional players were missing, according to Culture PSG, including Layvin Kurzawa, Colin Dagba, and Tanguy Kouassi.
Amiens is in a relegation battle and will scrap for a result at the Parc des Princes and could be rewarded if Tuchel’s squad isn’t focused.
“It is another intense week with three matches, so it’s not easy to work a lot in training. As a result, this is a tough game,” Tuchel said per PSG.fr.
Tuchel also talked about how Amiens is a good defensive team but I think that was a bunch of lip service. Amiens has allowed 32 goals this season, the second-most in Ligue 1.
With that in mind, I believe Tuchel will want to close out 2019 in style and start a strong starting lineup. There’s a further incentive to play well on Saturday afternoon.
In attendance will be a group of 240 children from the Paris Saint-Germain Foundation and they’ll be sitting in some of the most exclusive seats in the stadium. They’ll also have an opportunity to meet the players in what is sure to be an exciting experience for them.
PSG has scored four goals in their last two games and I predict that happening again if Tuchel goes with a lineup like this:
Formation: 4-4-2
Goalkeeper: Keylor Navas
Defenders: Juan Bernat, Abdou Diallo, Thiago Silva, Thomas Meunier
Midfielders: Marco Verratti, Idrissa Gueye, Angel Di Maria, Neymar Jr.
Forwards: Mauro Icardi, Kylian Mbappé
The next match for PSG will be on January 5 against amateur side ESA Linas-Montlhéry and I expect Tuchel to play many fringe and youth players in that one. That means PSG likely won’t play a match with their usual starters after tomorrow until January 7 against AS Saint-Étienne in the Coupe de la Ligue.
PSG wins this match against Amiens 4-0 with a Mbappé and Neymar each scoring a brace.
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