Don’t look now, but Paris Saint-Germain is clinging to a two-point lead over rivals Olympique de Marseille in the Ligue 1 table and on Wednesday, they face a tough FC Nantes side at the Parc des Princes without Marco Verratti.
OK, fine, PSG does have two games in hand over Marseille thanks to their match against AS Monaco last Sunday being postponed, but it’s still too close for comfort for many PSG supporters who thought manager Thomas Tuchel would have led Les Parisiens to a much larger cushion at this point in the season.
At his pre-match press conference, Tuchel revealed that Verratti will miss PSG’s match against Nantes due to injury along with Ander Herrera who is also out with an injury. Presnel Kimpembe is out with a suspension. Everyone else is available to the German.
Verratti’s development is an interesting one. According to Yahoo!, Verratti recovered from a knee injury in time to feature in last week’s clash against Real Madrid but then suffered a thigh injury in training later in the week.
Herrera, who has struggled with injuries since arriving on a free transfer from Manchester United last summer, continues to work his way back from a hamstring injury that has kept him out of the lineup since early November per Transfermarkt.
During his press conference, Tuchel admitted to being scared about the upcoming congested fixture list and the potential for more injuries.
“Now I think we have to play every three days in January and February, so I have to say I’m a bit scared.”
Nantes currently sits in seventh place and promises to present PSG with a difficult challenge. Tuchel believes they will start in a 4-4-2 formation and expects them to be difficult to break down.
A loss will open the door further for Marseille to put the pressure on PSG in Ligue 1. If only they took Le Classique seriously. Imagine where they could be in the table right now!
Want more PSG? Visit the PSG Talk Podcast Network page and subscribe to PSG Talking, The 1970, and 24th & Parc.
