After coming away with a much-needed win against Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain has turned its attention to Montpellier for an away Ligue 1 match. This contest may be the biggest league fixture of 2020 for manager Thomas Tuchel and his side. PSG is coming off of back-to-back winless results in league play, so another failure to pick up a win could see the club drop from its current first place standing in Ligue 1 this season. And more importantly, the club is without the likes of Neymar and Marco Verratti for rest-related reasons.
In a critical first half of the season league fixture, Tuchel is going with this starting 11 against Montpellier.
Le 1⃣1⃣ de départ ! 👊#MHSCPSG pic.twitter.com/PuIQh2lTcM
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) December 5, 2020
After missing PSG’s fixture against Bordeaux last week, Keylor Navas is back starting for the team at the goalkeeper position. The Costa Rican will be eying his first league clean sheet since early November.
Tuchel has elected to go with a five-at-the-back setup. The surprise is that Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe are not among the five talents in PSG’s backline for this fixture. But the club will have to rely on the likes of Mitchel Bakker for attacking contributions upfront as well as with tracking back for defensive shifts.
As mentioned, Verratti will not feature in this fixture against Montpellier. But Tuchel does have enough depth in the midfield to progress on through. Ander Herrera and Rafinha will be taking spots in the midfield. A strong performance from Rafinha could possibly give him a spot in Tuchel’s starting 11 for the team’s upcoming UEFA Champions League group stage fixture against Istanbul Basaksehir.
With Neymar out due to fatigue-related reasons, Angel Di Maria is called upon to lead PSG’s attack. He has somewhat fallen out of favor with Tuchel as the Argentine is coming off of back-to-back non-start fixtures.
PSG will be aiming to notch its first winning streak in all competitions since late October.
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