Kylian Mbappé won’t face any sort of on-the-field punishment after he stormed off the pitch last Saturday against Montpellier HSC as he is in the starting lineup to face FC Nantes at the Stade de la Beaujoire.
🆕 Le 1⃣1⃣ de départ pour notre match 🆚 Nantes !#FCNPSG
🔴🔵 #AllezParis pic.twitter.com/uMePDK4pY6
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) February 4, 2020
The official lineup isn’t too far off from my prediction. The formation appears to be a 4-4-2 and the only player I got wrong was Thilo Kehrer will start at center-back instead of Tanguy Kouassi, who is on the bench.
Leading the attack with Mbappé is Mauro Icardi, Angel Di Maria, and Pablo Sarabia. The Spaniard has been in outstanding form as of late and he will be crucial in breaking down a tough Nantes defense with Neymar Jr. out injured.
In the midfield, the preferred duo of Marco Verratti and Idrissa Gueye will team up to halt any attack Nantes tries to launch.
With several defenders out due to injury, manager Thomas Tuchel has had to go with Layvin Kurzawa, Presnel Kimpembe, Kehrer, and Thomas Meunier. It’s not a bad backline but Tuchel would likely prefer to have Juan Bernat, Marquinhos, and Thiago Silva available. In goal, is Keylor Navas who has been a steady rock all season.
What’s going to be interesting to watch in this game is whether or not Tuchel takes out Mbappé if the game gets out of hand. If the match reaches the 70th minute and it’s 5-0 like it was against Montpellier, will the German try to show his authority and take out his star or allow him to continue playing and risk injury?
No one said it was easy being the manager of PSG.
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