Five things on Nîmes - PSG Handball

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After their mid-week victory in Tremblay (30-33), Paris Saint-Germain Handball return to Lidl StarLigue. On Saturday afternoon, they travel to Parnasse, to take on Nîmes in their Round 8 clash.

Top teams face off
With six matches on the scoreboard, USAM sit sixth in the standings, but could have hoped for better. Their very good start, with two victories in two games, also suggested that the Green Team would settle comfortably at the top of the table. But after that things proved more complicated... while one could understand that they lost to Montpellier (24-25), the hope defeat to Créteil made less sense (22-25) and the draw in Chambéry (29-29), after leading by three goals, was also an upset. This week, however, Franck Maurice's men have returned to winning ways, disposing of Istres (30-25), with excellent Michaël Guigou performing well. At the same time, the Parisians, league leaders, played their rescheduled match away to Tremblay (30-33) and continued their flawless run, with a seventh victory in as many days.

The return of Elohim
This match will be very special for one of our players: Elohim Prandi, who came to the capital this summer from Nîmes. A product of the academy in Ivry, the French international moved to the Mediterranean coast in 2017-18 and, in three seasons, he scored 292 goals, regularly appearing among the top scorers in our championship (120 goals in his first year!). The 22-year-old left-back has often shown himself to be an outstanding goalscorer, as evidenced by his numerous free-throws after the buzzer. In particular, he managed to shake the Toulouse nets 10 times during his team's trip to La Ville Rose last season. That was his record in the elite at the time, but he has since done better, scoring 13 goals for Paris against Limoges (42-20).

Key stats
Wednesday's meeting will be a clash of styles. Indeed, the best attack (Paris, with 261 goals), faces one of the best defences (Nimes, fourth-best average in the league, with 25 goals conceded per game, 155 in total). But the two clubs still have a few things in common. Among them are the goalkeepers. Nîmes keeper Rémi Desbonnet is the third-most efficient goalkeeper in our championship, with 62 parries made since the beginning of the season. For Les Rouge et Bleu, Vincent Gérard is the goalkeeper with the most saves in the Lidl StarLigue (76). In the scoring department, between Nedim Remili (32 goals), Mikkel Hansen (31) and Elohim Pradni (30), we find the USAM player, Mohammad Sanad (31).

Head-to-head
It's never easy to win at Parnasse. Paris Saint-Germain Handball team have often struggled there, losing four times and conceding two draws. But they have also enjoyed success on their trip to the South bagging a total of 19 wins. All Lidl StarLigue confrontations together, our team lead the way with 19 wins, two draws and seven defeats. The last time Les Rouge et Bleu faced Nîmes was on November 8, 2017 (26-24). Since then, they remain on a run of five games without defeat, including three consecutive wins over Nimes. Doubtless this latest instalment will also be one for highlight reel!

To follow the match (kick-off at 17:00):
• Television: beIN SPORTS 1
• Live tweet: our official page

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)