Much to my delight, Paris Saint-Germain manager decided to leave Kylian Mbappé and Neymar Jr. on the bench for their Coupe de France Round of 32 match at the Stade du Moustoir.
Unfortunately, Angel Di Maria, Mauro Icardi, and Thiago Silva are in the starting lineup for absolutely no reason at all. Here is how the rest of the lineup shapes up.
The 1⃣1⃣ for #FCLPSG ! ⚡️
🔴🔵 #AllezParis
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) January 19, 2020
The reason I don’t want PSG’s best players starting in this match is that the pitch is less than ideal. Advancing in the Coupe de France is important but so it maintaining health so that the Fantastic Four and PSG’s best defender is available on February 18 when the team travels to Germany to play Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League.
That aside, I think this is a very solid lineup that should be able to defeat the Ligue 2 leaders. Setting up in a 4-4-2, it will be interesting to see if Julian Draxler and Pablo Sarabia will track back and help the midfield duo of Leandro Paredes and Idrissa Gueye.
On defense, Layvin Kurzawa starts at left-back amidst rumors that he will sign for Arsenal FC. Abdou Diallo partners with Silva at center-back and Colin Dagba starts for Thomas Meunier and Thilo Kehrer who are both out. In goal is Sergio Rico who has shown his quality in the few starts that he’s made.
Hopefully, this lineup can put the game away early and there’s no need to bring on Mbappé or Neymar at all.
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