Preview: Lille-Paris

THE LATEST RANKINGS

With their 2-1 win over FC Nantes at the Parc des Princes last time out, Paris Saint-Germain have now won eight consecutive Ligue 1 matches. This is the best current run of consecutive wins in Europe's top 5 leagues, and means that Paris now have 36 points from 15 league games. The Rouge et Bleu are 4 points clear of second place Nice, and 6 ahead of AS Monaco.

Lille, for their part, are proving to be one of the best performing teams in the league this season. With a total of 27 points from 15 games, Lille are in 4th place in Ligue 1. The Dogues are unbeaten in their last 14 matches in all competitions, with their last defeat coming in September against Reims (1-2). What's more, LOSC have not conceded a goal in their last 5 matches, promising to be a sizeable challenge for the Parisians.

a look back at the last match

The two sides met for the last time on match day 24 of the 2022-2023 league season, at the Parc des Princes on 19th February. It was a match that got off to a flying start, with Kylian Mbappé opening the scoring in memorable fashion, weaving his way between Djalo and Diakité before scoring with the inside of his right foot (1-0, 12'). Five minutes later, Vitinha broke into the opposition penalty area and slipped the ball through to Neymar Jr, who doubled the lead from close range (2-0, 17'). However, before the half-hour mark, Bafodé Diakité headed home André Gomes' cross (2-1, 24').

Lille confirmed their renewed form after the break, winning a penalty for a foul on Tiago Djalo. Canadian international Jonathan David converted the spot-kick to put Lille back in front (2-2, 58'). Ten minutes later, the visitors added a third through Jonathan Bamba, who unleashed a purely struck right-footed shot (2-3, 69'). With their backs against the wall, Paris drew on their resources to get back into the game and equalise through Kylian Mbappé, who scored his second thanks to an assist from Juan Bernat (3-3, 87'). It was a crucial goal before Léo Messi scored the winner in the dying seconds from a direct free-kick to set the Parc des Princes free at the end of a match full of twists and turns (4-3, 90+5).

OPPOSING FORCES

Paulo Fonseca and his team play mostly a 4-2-3-1 system. In goal, Lucas Chevalier has established himself as one of Lille's key players. With an 80% save rate since the start of the season, the France U-21 international has the third-highest percentage in the league behind Marcin Bulka (OGC Nice) and... Gianluigi Donnarumma. Ahead of him, the very promising Leny Yoro (17) is already establishing himself as a regular starter. Alongside the France U-21 international, Alexsandro is expected to form the club's central defence. The two Lille defenders have been preferred up to now to French international Samuel Umtiti and Tiago Djalo, who is set to miss the game through injury.

On the right side of defence, Portuguese international Tiago Santos is one of LOSC's pleasant surprises of the first half of the season. On the other side, Gabriel Gudmundsson is expected to start on the left. The Swedish international is in competition with the very experienced Ismaily, but the Brazilian full-back has just returned from injury. In midfield, Benjamin André will be indispensable. Captain of the Lille team, the French midfielder has established himself as one of the best players in the league in his position. To back him up, Angel Gomes and Nabil Bentaleb will battle it out for the second starting position: the former is more forward-thinking, while the latter has a slightly more defensive profile.

In the playmaker position, Yusuf Yazici looks the most likely option to start against the Parisians. Back to his best, the Turkish international has already scored 6 goals and provided 1 assist this season. On his right, Edon Zhegrova is one of the men in form for LOSC. The former FC Basel player has scored 2 goals this season, but has also provided 5 assists for his team-mates. On the left flank, Rémy Cabella has the edge over Ivan Cavaleiro, who has just returned from injury. The French international (2 goals, 3 assists this season), who played for Montpellier, Marseille and Saint-Etienne, is once again shining in the north of France at the age of 33.

However, he could face competition from a returning Adam Ounas, while Hákon Arnar Haraldsson could also fill the role but appears to be moving on. Finally, Lille's serial goalscorer Jonathan David should lead the front line for the Dogues. After a long spell on the sidelines, the Canadian international has found the net again of late, taking his personal tally to 6 goals this season, with 2 assists to boot. Absent from LOSC's last match, his presence against the Rouge et Bleu has yet to be confirmed, but Lille's coach is confident he will be back.

WARREN ZAÏRE-EMERY - LENY YORO: the DUEL of the MATCH

French youngsters take centre stage! This meeting between Lille and Paris Saint-Germain will also see the play of two of the hottest young players of the moment. On the Paris side, Warren's rapid return to competitive action was punctuated by a UEFA Champions League goal in Dortmund (his first in the UCL) and the man-of-the-match award. With two goals in Ligue 1 this season, he continues to shine and put everyone in awe, with the added bonus of his first cap for the French national team this year. Solid, agile, technical and unusually mature for his age (17), Warren Zaïre-Emery could play his 49th match for Paris Saint-Germain, with the ability that the football world has come to know him for.

Up against him is another impressive young player, 18-year-old Leny Yoro, who has made 19 appearances in all competitions for the Dogues this season (14 in Ligue 1 and 5 in the UEFA Europa Conference League). The central defender, who is also showing a great deal of maturity for his very young age, has also scored twice in the first half of the season in the league, and once in the European Cup. The two young stars of French football have similar stats, and they could well meet on the pitch on Sunday evening for a number of duels that will be sure to brighten up the future.