Paris St-Germain Vs FC Metz
Paris St-Germain Vs FC Metz Wednesday 16 September 2020 – 20:00 (GMT)
French Ligue 1
Pick: PSG & Under 3.5 Goals
Odds: 7/5
Bookmaker: PaddyPower
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 14 September 2020)
Preview: After embarking on the club’s poorest opening to a Ligue 1 season since 1984-85, PSG will hope to get off the mark at the third time of asking on Wednesday when they entertain FC Metz inside Parc des Princes. Surely another upset isn’t on the cards?
French Ligue 1 Betting at 22Bet
Table of Contents
PSG Preview – Pointless Parisiens in turmoil?
It has been their worst start to a season for more than thirty years. PSG are among a quartet of clubs still to register a point since Ligue 1 got underway last month – admittedly, theirs was delayed until September owing to last season’s Champions League endeavours – and so find themselves in uncharted territory as they occupy the relegation play-off ahead of a third league outing in eight days.
By following up Thursday’s 1-0 loss away at promoted Lens with defeat in Le Classique to Marseille, after losing by the same scoreline in what was a fiercely fought encounter at the Parc des Princes, the Parisians have now lost their opening two league games for the first time since 1984. Including last month’s Champions League final with Bayern Munich, PSG have now lost three successive matches by a 1-0 scoreline.
There can be no guarantee everything will suddenly right itself on Wednesday. Opponents Metz turned in a stubborn display in Lille over the weekend and will no doubt aim to follow a similar blueprint as Lens and Marseille. Moreover, PSG boss Thomas Tuchel remains shorn of several key figures. Marquinhos, Mauro Icardi and Kylian Mbappe are reportedly still in quarantine, while Neymar is now serving a suspension.
Metz Preview – Recent away efforts suggest bold showing in Paris?
Ordinarily, this would be a fixture full of dread. For most, meanwhile, it quickly descends into a damage limitation exercise. That isn’t necessarily true as of now, though, and Metz may well view the reigning Ligue 1 champs, depleted and wounded, as ripe for the picking in Paris. Then again, coach Vincent Hognon can relate to his opposite number more than most having overseen an identical start to the new term.
Successive 1-0 defeats, first at home to Monaco before a spirited effort in Lille saw them beaten in the dying embers of the match, means Les Granats are one of four teams – with PSG among them – still searching for their first points. A start which contrasts with how they were performing when the 2019-20 campaign was cut short in February, when winning their final two encounters with Amiens (0-1) and Nimes (2-1).
Metz would finish last season unbeaten on the road in four (W2 D2), conceding only once in the process of registering eight points from contests in Reims (0-1), Montpellier (1-1), Nantes (0-0) and Amiens. So when including their one-goal defeat at Lille on Sunday, Vincent Hognon’s charges have shipped a miserly two goals across their previous five Ligue 1 away outings.
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PSG Vs Metz Betting Advice
Paris hasn’t rocked this much in a very long time. Until PSG get some of their star names back and up to speed, every one of their upcoming opponents will fancy their chances of nicking a memorable result that would ordinarily seem unrealistic. The latest to try their luck are FC Metz, who arrive in the French capital on the back of successive defeats of their own but were far from disgraced in either.
PSG Vs Metz – Key Facts
- Ligue 1 title holders Paris Saint-Germain have now lost their last three matches by a 1-0 scoreline (versus Bayern Munich, Lens and Marseille).
- FC Metz suffered their first away league defeat in five such fixtures (W2 D2 L1) when losing 1-0 away to Lille on Sunday, with the goal only the second they’ve conceded across this sequence of games.
- PSG are targeting their tenth consecutive victory over FC Metz in all competitions, winning each of the last three staged in Paris without conceding a goal.
Once again, Thomas Tuchel will be forced into fielding a makeshift side in the absence of so many first-team regulars. There is enough in reserve to finally get up and running with a win, however, a scoreline resembling something like the 5-0 when these teams last met in Paris, in March 2018, is probably out of the question. Metz have conceded only twice across their last five away league games and can keep this respectable. PSG 2-0.
Best Betting Odds – PSG Vs Metz
PSG – 1/4 (Betfair)
Draw – 13/2 (Bet365)
Metz – 8/1 (PaddyPower)
