Paris v. Lille: Loud and clear

A LOOK AT THE TABLE

Although they've been strong in attack, as demonstrated by their wins over Feyenoord (6-1) and Saint-Étienne (4-1) a few weeks ago, Lille followed these results up with a shock Coupe de France elimination at the hands of USL Dunkerque on penalties and then with a 2-1 league defeat at home to Le Havre. In the last fortnight, though, the sun has started to shine on the northerners once more, specifically in the form of two important victories (2-0 over Rennes and 2-1 over Monaco), and, with 41 points from 23 games, Les Dogues currently find themselves fourth in the Ligue 1 table, just two points off a top-three spot.

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain have maintained their insane pace at the top of a division that seems quite simply incapable of keeping up. With eight wins and one draw in their last nine league outings – the most recent of these top-flight wins being a 1-0 victory away to Toulouse and then, after a crazy end to the match, a 3-2 triumph away to Olympique Lyonnais – Luis Enrique's men have exceeded expectations so far by earning themselves a total of 59 points, 13 more than their closest competitors, Olympique de Marseille.

THE TWO TEAMS' FORM IN NUMBERS

THE OPPOSITION'S STRENGTHS

Bruno Génésio tends to set his side up in a 4-3-3 formation. In goal, Calais native Lucas Chevalier has naturally established himself not only as LOSC's first-choice keeper but also as one of the league's top three players in his position, while, in front of the 23-year-old, a reliable centre-back pairing of Alexsandro and Bafodé Diakité has also proved more than satisfactory, to the extent that former Real Betis and Villarreal defender Aïssa Mandi has been relegated to the role of a rotation player.

At right-back, meanwhile, Portugal international Tiago Santos is still out injured, much to the benefit of teammate Thomas Meunier. The 33-year-old ex-Paris man, who has 67 caps under his belt for Belgium, is enjoying a new lease of life in northern France and has often been accompanied on the opposite side of the pitch by Gabriel Gudmundsson this season, although the latter's place in his team's starting XI could be put under threat by the likely return of the highly experienced 35-year-old Ismaily. The former Shakhtar Donetsk captain arguably offers more defensive certainty than the Sweden international, while Atalanta loanee Mitchel Bakker, who has racked up three goals and three assists across all competitions in 2024–2025, is increasingly being used as a left-sided midfielder.

In the midfield engine room, Benjamin André remains as essential as ever to his side. Despite Nabil Bentaleb's recent return to competitive football, the Lille captain is expected to start once more against Les Parisiens and may well be joined slightly higher up the pitch by 20-year-old Ngal'ayel Mukau and 17-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi. These two promising midfielders have taken on increased importance for Les Dogues in recent months, but LOSC boss Génésio certainly isn't short of options in the middle, where Portugal's André Gomes and England's Angel Gomes, with their more attacking profiles, are also in contention for a place in the northern outfit's starting XI. As for Ethan Mbappé, the man who came through the capital club's youth academy may make an appearance midway through the game.

There's also uncertainty for Lille on the wings, where they have several options at their disposal despite the absence of Edon Zhegrova (eight goals and two assists in 2024–2025); in addition to Bakker on the left flank, we could see Rémy Cabella (one goal and four assists in 2024–2025), Osame Sahraoui (five goals and five assists in 2024–2025), Hákon Haraldsson (six goals and four assists in 2024–2025) or Chuba Akpom (two goals and zero assists in 2024–2025) start out wide. Akpom, who joined the club from AFC Ajax this winter, can also serve as an alternative to Jonathan David (20 goals and nine assists in 2024–2025) up front, as can youngster Matías Fernández-Pardo (one goal and three assists in 2024–2025).

With just a few days to go until they travel to Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League, it's difficult to know how LOSC will look tomorrow, but if one thing's for sure, it's that the 11 players that they put out at the Parc des Princes will be well and truly competitive.