Preview: Nîmes - PSG Handball

News

On Thursday evening, Paris Saint-Germain Handball finish off the Lidl StarLigue's Round 5 action with a trip to the south of France to take on Nîmes in an away fixture that is never a walk in the park.

The price of inconsistency
Although USAM have dropped three points since the start of the championship and now sit in fifth place on the table, they are not a team to be taken lightly. They proved this in Round 2 with a last-gasp win in the derby against Montpellier (25-24). Unfortunately, inconsistency has hampered Franck Maurice's men's start to the season. A week after their win over Montpellier, they suffered a surprise home defeat against Créteil (29-35) and then, in Round 4, they turned in a strong performance away to Chambéry only to drop a point in the final minutes (28-28).

A talented squad
Nîmes have top-quality players in every position. Among them is the club's top scorer - Egypt's right-winger Mohammed Sanad, who has scored 24 goals in four appearances. Also in this squad are excellent goalkeeper, Rémi Desbonnet (currently Lidl StarLigue's top 'keeper with 42 saves) and the four-time world champion, Michael Guigou, who arrived this summer from Montpellier. But above all, Les Rouge et Bleu will face one of their future team-mates, Elohim Prandi. The 21-year-old centre-half, who was crowned Junior World Champion this summer, has signed on to play for Paris as of next season.

View this post on Instagram

Ravi et fier de vous annoncer ma signature au @psghandofficiel à partir de 2020 jusqu’en 2023 🔵🔴

A post shared by Elohim Prandi 🤾🏽‍♂️ (@elohimprandi) on Jul 2, 2019 at 9:45am PDT

A look back at recent clashes
Whatever the formbook says, Raul Gonzalez's men know that this clash will not be a walk in the park... especially at Nîmes' home arena, Le Parnasse! The capital club have not won there since November 2016. Back then, they had nine goals from Uwe Gensheimer and Nedim Remili - as well as Clément Gaudin's six saves - to thank for the result. Since then, trips to the South have been more complicated, with a loss in 2017-2018 (26-24) and a draw last season, conceded in the very last moments (28-28). Historically, Paris have 17 wins (including seven away), seven defeats and 2 draws against Nîmes.

Our key stats
In all competitions combined, our team are off to a perfect start in 2019-2020 with eight wins from eight matches. In the Lidl StarLigue, they are the only side to have won their first four matches and are therefore at the top of the table, one point ahead of nearest rival Aix-en-Provence. With 137 goals scored, Paris Saint-Germain Handball boast the best attack in the division, a stat that comes courtesy of main scorers, Nedim Remili (17 goals) and Gudjon Sigurdsson (16). It should also be noted that Kim Ekdahl of Rietz only needs one goal to reach the 100-goal mark for the capital club.

To follow the match (kick-off at 5:30 pm)
- Television: beIN SPORTS 31
- Live tweet: our official page

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)