All you need to know about Paris v. Troyes

A BIT OF HISTORY

This is the 32nd competitive fixture between Paris Saint-Germain and Troyes, with the head-to-head record sitting firmly in favour of the capital club, with 20 wins, seven draws and four defeats for Les Parisiens.

Paris are unbeaten in their last 18 competitive matches against Troyes, with 15 wins and three draws. The last time they lost to Les Troyens was on 4th November 2001 – a 1-0 defeat away from home.

That 18-game run sits just outside the club's top five longest unbeaten streaks against one particular team, behind Angers (27 games unbeaten since 1975, run ongoing), Saint-Étienne (25 games unbeaten since 2012, run ongoing), Brest (24 games unbeaten since 1985, run ongoing), Nantes (22 games unbeaten from 2004 to 2019) and Marseille (20 games unbeaten from 2011 to 2020) and level with Caen (18 games unbeaten since 2008, run ongoing).

At the Parc des Princes, the capital club have never tasted defeat against Troyes, with 13 wins and three draws. That said, Les Parisiens did share the spoils with them at home last season in a 2-2 draw on 8th May.

Paris's 9-0 win away to Troyes on 13th March 2016 was a record win in the club's top-flight history (together with the 9-0 win over Guingamp at the Parc des Princes on 19th January 2019), after 1,843 games played in the French first division. It also set the record for the biggest away win in Ligue 1 history.

13 players have played for both clubs: Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, Selim Benachour, Branko Bošković, Fabrice Fiorèse, Yann Lachuer, Ronan Le Crom, Laurent Leroy, Patrice Loko, Blaise Matuidi, Granddi Ngoyi, Grégory Paisley, Thierry Rabat and Jérôme Rothen. Thierno Baldé and Wilson Odobert, who came through Paris's academy, never featured for the club's first team in a competitive fixture.

Pedro Miguel Pauleta and Zlatan Ibrahimović are Paris Saint-Germain's top scorers against Troyes, with seven goals each. They sit ahead of Carlos Bianchi, Edinson Cavani, François M’Pelé and Guy Nosibor (four goals each) as well as Laurent Robert and Ronaldinho (three goals each).

THE STAKES

Unbeaten league leaders Paris Saint-Germain – with their ten wins, two draws and five-point lead over the chasing pack – will be aiming to extend their unbeaten run in Ligue 1, which currently stands at 21 games (16 wins and five draws).

At home in the league, Les Rouge et Bleu's last defeat dates back to 3rd April 2021 – a 1-0 loss to Lille. The capital club are currently on a run of 27 games without defeat, with 23 wins and four draws. The club's record unbeaten streak at home in the league is 41 games, in between a 2-0 loss to Monaco on 20th March 2016 and another 2-0 loss, this time to Rennes on 12th May 2018.

Paris are also on a run of 27 competitive fixtures without loss since the 3-0 league defeat away to Monaco on 20th March 2022. This run is now in the club's top three longest unbeaten stretches across all competitions, with the record for Les Rouge et Bleu standing at 37 matches, from August 1993 to April 1994, just ahead of the 36-game run from March 2012 to December 2013.

THE KEYS TO THE GAME

If Sergio Ramos plays on Saturday and avoids defeat, it will be his 30th consecutive competitive fixture without losing for Paris Saint-Germain since his arrival at the club and will set a new record for games unbeaten for a new signing, beating the one set by Raí in 1993-1994.

After his brace last Friday and his first goals scored against Ajaccio, Kylian Mbappé will be looking to open his account against Troyes, one of three clubs in Ligue 1 this season to have never conceded a goal scored by Paris's no. 7, with Lens and Auxerre (a side that Mbappé has never faced as a Paris Saint-Germain player) being the other two.

Troyes are a club that Paris's strikers do well against! Carlos Bianchi was the first Paris Saint-Germain player to score four goals in one top-flight game, and they came in an 8-2 win over Troyes on 14th October 1977. Patrick Loko (v. Nice, 5-0, 27th April 1997), Christian (v. Strasbourg, 4-2, 26th January 2000), Zlatan Ibrahimović (v. Troyes, 9-0, 13th March 2016), Edinson Cavani (v. Caen, 6-0, 16th September 2016), Neymar Jr (v. Dijon, 8-0, 17th January 2018) and Kylian Mbappé (v. Lyon, 5-0, 7th October 2018) have also achieved this feat for Les Rouge et Bleu. In total, two out of the seven times that a Paris player has scored four goals in one game have been against Troyes.

With 50 goals scored in 18 competitive fixtures this season, the capital club are operating at a rate of nearly three goals per game (2.77, to be precise), including 40 goals for the trio of Mbappé (16), Neymar Jr (13) and Lionel Messi (11).

In the league, Paris's defence have earned seven clean sheets from their last eight games and have conceded just five goals in their 12 games so far in this campaign. Paris Saint-Germain also hold the best defensive record in the league, ahead of Lens (eight goals conceded) and Marseille (nine goals conceded).

N.B.: these statistics take into account the matches played against TAF (Troyes Aube Football), the professional club that existed in Troyes before the creation of ESTAC in 1986.