PSG v Manchester City - The Opposition

The games are coming thick and fast now for Manchester City, and the latest test for the blues, following their win at Chelsea, is a visit to Paris to take on PSG.

The blues beat the French side twice in last season’s Champions League semi-final and now face them again for the first time in the group stage, and the blues, buoyed from that incredible win at Chelsea, will be looking to inflict another defeat on the Lique 1 runners-up.

Form

It could be said that PSG are the form team in Lique 1 at the moment. After eight matches played, they sit top of the league, having won all their opening fixtures. This is a run that has also seen them record a 2-1 home win over current champions Lyon.

The only team that hasn’t so far succumbed to PSG are fellow Champions League side Club Brugge, who held Mauricio Pochettino’s men to a 1-1 draw in Belgium.

But despite being dominant in the league and scoring 22 goals, PSG are finding clean sheets hard to come by, and have only kept three so far this season, and the right City team could very well exploit the defence.

Danger men

It goes without saying really, that PSG have got one of the strongest attacks in Europe. Kylian Mbappe and Neymar were joined over the summer by Lionel Messi, although the Barcelona legend is het to score his first goal for the club. But despite having Neymar in their ranks, it is Ander Herrera who joins Mbappe at the top of the goalscoring charts, with the dup bagging four apiece. Neymar has just a solitary goal to his name so far this season.

Mbappe has attempted 23 shots from 9 matches, and a 4-goal return gives him a goal conversion rate of just 17%. Herrera’s stats are better, having scored 4 from 7 shots over the same number of games, giving him a goal conversion rate of 57%. The most lethal in the team is Pablo Sarabia, who scored with his only shot so far this season.

Assist wise, Mbappe and Herrera lead the way again. Mbappe has 4 assists but has only completed 251 passes from 302 attempted. Herrera is very much the playmaker though. From 626 passes attempted, he has completed 582 in just 9 games, giving him a pass accuracy of 93%. He has 2 assists and has created 8 chances so far.

Who’s the boss?

Mauricio Pochettino is the man in charge at Le Parc des Princes. The Argentine was sacked by Spurs in 2019, and after a 14-month break, returned to manage the French side, taking them to the Champions League semi-final and second place in Lique 1.

Pochettino has only presided over 44 PSG matches but has a win ratio of 70%.

Last Time Out

City las faced PSG at Le Parc des Princes in April and came from behind to win the first leg 2-1. Marquinhos had headed the home side in front on 15 minutes, but Kevin de Bruyne levelled on 64 minutes. Seven minutes later, Riyad Mahrez, who would score both City goals in the home tie, secured the win that put City on the brink of their first Champions League final. Idrissa Gueye was then sent off for a horrible foul on Ilkay Gundogan.