Preview: 5 things about Saran - Paris

1 - THE STATE OF PLAY

The capital club got the second half of the Liqui Moly StarLigue season off to a perfect start against Chartres, almost two months after their last match in the competition (44-30). As a result, morale is high for Raul Gonzalez and his men, who also showed no fear against Nîmes in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France (30-22), and more recently in Northern Macedonia for their return to EHF Champions League duties. Against Eurofarm Pelister, the Parisians continued their good run of form with a vital 25-31 victory ahead of their clash with Kielce at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin on Thursday 22 February. On the domestic front, Les Rouge et Bleus' main objective remains the same: to continue their unblemished record in the Liqui Moly StarLigue.

For Saran, the situation is more alarming. Beaten by Saint-Raphaël in Round 16 (33-28), the promoted side remain mired in the relegation zone. Although they are still level on points with Créteil, the Loire-valley side will need to find their rhythm in the second half of the season if they are to stay in the top flight.

2 - CONTRASTING FORTUNES IN ATTACK

Aside from their positions in the standings, Paris and Saran are polar opposites in a number of other areas - not least in attack. With 1,074 goals scored in the first 16 rounds of the Liqui Moly StarLigue, the capital club has by far the best attack in the league. That's a far cry from the Septors, who, with 452 goals, have the worst record in the top flight. Les Rouge et Bleu will have to be wary, however, of former Parisian William Accambray, Saran's second-highest scorer with 65 goals, who made a perfect return to official competition with eight strikes against Saint-Raphaël.

3 - PARISIANS IN TOP FORM

A good attack needs good players, and Paris has plenty of them. Despite the long international break, some have returned to sparkling form. This is particularly true of Kamil Syprzak. Still one of the top scorers in the Liqui Moly StarLigue and EHF Champions League, our Polish pivot has already scored 19 goals in the three matches played by Les Rouge et Bleu in 2024. Unstoppable against Chartres last week (9 goals), Jacob Holm is close on Kamil's heels with 15 goals. For their part, Kent Robin Tonnesen and Ferran Solé shone against Nîmes in the Coupe de France quarter-finals and Eurofarm Pelister in the EHF Champions League respectively on Wednesday, each scoring six times. The two internationals now have a combined tally of 11 goals since the start of the season in early February.

8' : Déjà quatre buts (sur autant de tentatives) pour Jacob ! (10-5) #PSGCHA pic.twitter.com/bJDYufufH1

— PSG Handball (@psghand) February 9, 2024

4 - HEAD TO HEAD

The Parisians and Saran have faced each other eight times in their history, with the capital club winning every time. This season, Raul Gonzalez's men have already crossed swords twice with these opponents. In addition to their clash in the first half of the league campaign (46-31), the Paris also qualified for the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France with another win, in December (44-27).

5 - TO FOLLOW THE MATCH

Throw-off: 20:00

Television: BeIn Sports 3

Social networks: Live-Tweet

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)