Paris Saint-Germain are back in Ligue 1 action when they visit Lille on Sunday after squeezing into the Champions League last 16 by the skin of their teeth.
Warren Zaire-Emery’s equaliser at Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan’s win over Newcastle proved enough for PSG to make the knockout stages and attention now turns to their final two league games of 2023 before a break until the new year.
Here’s the starting XI manager Luis Enrique may deploy against Lille, who are currently fourth in France’s top flight.
GK: Arnau Tenas – Gianluigi Donnarumma, who played at Dortmund, remains suspended in Ligue 1 after his red card against Le Havre earlier this month. Tenas came in and made seven saves in that game.
RB: Achraf Hakimi – Made 90min’s Champions League team of the group stage for his electric showings from right-back.
CB: Danilo Pereira – May come in for club captain Marquinhos if Luis Enrique decides to rest the injury-prone defender.
CB: Milan Skriniar – Has been PSG’s most regular centre-back so far this season, making 12 starting appearances in Ligue 1 and another six in the Champions League.
LB: Lucas Hernandez – Consistent enough at the start of his PSG career but still has plenty of work to do to convince the club’s ultras they were wrong after labelling him ‘not welcome’ upon his summer signing.
CM: Warren Zaire-Emery – Will have seen plenty of superstars come and go at PSG in his fledgling career so far, but it was Zaire-Emery who equalised in Dortmund to revive his side’s knockout stage hopes.
CM: Manuel Ugarte – Must be disappointed not to have started in midweek, having been brought in during the summer as PSG’s hoped replacement for Marco Verratti.
CM: Vitinha – Was handed a start against Dortmund after contributing a goal and an assist in Ligue 1 wins over Le Havre and Nantes.
RW: Ousmane Dembele – Missed the last group stage game through suspension and will be looking to add to his goal and five assists in league action so far.
ST: Kylian Mbappe – Was denied a goal by Niklas Sule’s brilliant block, taking his barren streak in front of goal to a whopping two games.
LW: Bradley Barcola – Bagged his first PSG win in the win over Nantes and just needs to locate his shooting boots more quickly to start hitting the back of the net more frequently.
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