Preview: 5 things about Chartres - Paris

News

After qualifying for the Coupe de France quarter-finals against Chambéry in midweek (31-30), Paris Saint-Germain Handball return to Liqui Moly StarLigue action on Friday evening when they travel to Chartres for the Round 10 clash.

1 - THE TABLE

After nine games, Chartres are closer to the middle of the table (three points off) than to the drop zone (five points). They are on a positive run, with a draw against Toulouse (24-24) and a precious victory against Istres (32-34). They also beat Dunkerque in the Coupe de France (34-33).

Les Rouge et Bleu, meanwhile, are well established at the top of the table, along with Nantes and Montpellier. The top three are four points ahead of fourth-placed Cesson-Rennes. Last week, against Aix (37-32), the Parisians recorded their sixth consecutive victory in the championship.

2 - KEY STATS 

Paris boast one of the five best defences in the league, with 260 goals conceded, compared to 281 for Chartres (tenth). The sides' goalkeepers are very close, as Andreas Palicka and Julien Meyer (pre-selected for the 2023 World Cup with the French team) have 84 and 83 saves respectively.

Offensively, no team in the French handball elite has done better than the capital club, with its 310 units and an average of 34 goals per game. Our future opponents are in 13th place, with 262 goals (an average of 29 per match).

3 - NECK AND NECK

Les Rouge et Bleu are having a superb first half to the season in front of goal. Among the top scorers in the league, we find our Polish pivot, Kamil Syprzak (60 goals) in fourth place. At the top of the list is Elohim Prandi (64), who has just been named Liqui Moly StarLigue Player of the Month and who recently extended his contract with Paris Saint-Germain Handball. The capital club are the only side in the league to have two their representatives in the top ten on the scorers chart.

4 - HEAD TO HEAD 

Before Friday's match, Chartres and Paris have met seven times in the league. So far, our team have managed a clean sweep in the fixture, a run that dates back to 30 September 2015 (20-32). The last meeting the Parisians do their victorious thing in a spectacular match (36-40). 

5 - TO FOLLOW THE MATCH

Kick-off: 20:00
Television: Handball TV
Social networks: Live-tweet

(Credits: L. Valroff/Team Pics/PSG)