Everything on Saint-Étienne - Paris!

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY

It's the 88th competitive meeting of Paris Saint-Germain and Saint-Étienne, and the balance is firmly tilted in favour of the Parisians with 48 victories, 26 draws and 13 defeats.

The capital club are on a run of 21 competitive matches without losing to Les Verts (17 wins and 4 draws), since falling in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de la Ligue on November 27 2012 (0-0 after extra-time, 3-5 on penalties). The club record (23 matches undefeated against Angers) isn't far away…

The Rouge et Bleu pulled off the first major feat in their history at Geoffroy-Guichard by winning 1-0 on September 18 1971, thanks to a goal scored Bernard Guignedoux.

The Parisians are on a run of 5 consecutive victories against Les Verts in competitive matches. 

Paris, who are playing for the 43rd time in Saint-Étienne, have won their 17 times, with 15 draws and only 10 defeats. In the league, the Rouge et Bleu haven't been beaten at Le Chaudron since September 21 2008 (0-1), a run of 11 matches without defeat (6 win and 5 draws).

35 players have worn the shirt of both clubs : Alex Dias, José Aloisio, Jérôme Alonzo, Adil Aouchiche, Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, Dominique Bathenay, Mathieu Bodmer, Yohan Cabaye, Zoumana Camara, Dominique Casagrande, Jérémy Clément, Grégory Coupet, Mevlüt Erding, Laurent Fournier, David Hellebuyck, Robert Jacques, Gérard Janvion, Christophe Landrin, Jean-Michel Larqué, Thierry Laurey, Francis Llacer, Blaise Matuidi, Roland Mitoraj, Bernard Pardo, Stéphane Pédron, Lionel Potillon, Cyril Pouget, Philippe Redon, Dominique Rocheteau, Daniel Sanchez, Liazid Sandjak, Jean-Luc Sassus, Jean-Philippe Séchet, Siaka Tiéné and Jean-Luc Vasseur.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is Paris Saint-Germain's top scorer against Saint-Étienne in all competitions, with 14 goals scored. The Swedish international is ahead of Edinson Cavani (12 goals) and Mustapha Dahleb (11 goals).

WHAT'S AT STAKE

Paris Saint-Germain want to carry on their excellent run in first games of the calendar year: since 2002 and a loss at the Parc des Princes in the league against Monaco (1-2, 15/01/2002), the Rouge et Bleu have won every time, a run of 18 straight victories. 

On January 5  2020, Adil Aouchiche, now of Saint-Étienne, scored against Linas-Montlhéry the first goal of the year (a 6-0 victory for Paris Saint-Germain). The fastest goal scored in the first match of the calendar year dates back to 2005: only 4 minutes were on the clock when Felipe Teixeira scored against Langueux in the Round of 64 of the Coupe de France (a 6-1 Parisian victory).

THE KEYS TO THE MATCH

Paris Saint-Germain need to build on the attacking effectiveness they displayed in the final match of the year against Strasbourg (4-0, 23/12/2020) against a team that the goalscorers of the capital club have traditionally enjoyed playing against. With 157 goals conceded against Paris Saint-Germain, ASSE have been the most generous club to the Parisians, in front of Lyon (154 goals).

The Paris defence will also want to build on their defensive solidity: the Rouge et Bleu haven't conceded a goal in their last 3 matches, and have managed 5 clean sheets in 8 away matches in Ligue 1 this season.