KAMPALA: Paris Saint Germain face their toughest Ligue One test of the 2022/23 season when they travel to second placed Racing Lens on Sunday, January 1. Christopher Galtier’s go getters are without leading lights Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr when they travel to the 1998 French top flight champions. World Cup winner Messi only returns to Paris later this week after an extended holiday in Argentina whereas Neymar was sent off for two bookable offences in the Parisians’ 2-1 victory over Strasbourg.
The victory at their Parc des Princes fortress wasn’t the most imposing display from PSG as they needed a 95th minute penalty to subdue a stubborn Strasbourg but it was enough to extend their advantage atop the standings to seven points because Lens could only muster a goalless draw away to Nice. Summer signing Hugo Ekitike should bolster the attack led by division top scorer Kylian Lottin Mbappe, who has already netted 13 league goals this season.
Olympique Marseille boss Igor Tudor will demand that his charges don’t drop their standards in the aftermath of the 1993 European champions’ 6-1 obliteration of Toulouse last Wednesday. France’s best supported club face a trick trip to Montpellier, surprise 2-0 winners over high flyers Lorient in their midweek rubber but can count on the mercurial form of Dmitri Payet, Nuno Tavares and Cenghiz Under.
The battle for Champions League slots intensifies with 2021 Ligue One winners Lille Metropole targeting their fifth victory in seven outings when they host Reims on Monday, January 2 just days after the visitors ended Rennes 17-match unbeaten run with a 3-1 humbling. Rennes will be aiming to bounce back when they welcome unpredictable Nice.
In other appetising matchups, Lorient’s Nigerian striker Terem Moffi goes to to toe with basement club Angers’ Moroccan pair Sofiane Boufal and Azzedine Ounahi, Laurent Blanc’s Olympique Lyon aim to build on their emphatic 4-2 victory at Brest when they host Clermont and Nico Kovacs’ Monaco chase maximum points against a Brest outfit not noted for their defensive prowess.
SUNDAY
Angers v Lorient,
Monaco v Brest, Nantes v Auxerre
Toulouse v Ajaccio,
Olympique Lyon v Clermont,
Racing Lens v Paris Saint Germain
MONDAY
Strasbourg v Troyes,
Lille Metropole v Reims,
Montpellier v Marseille,
Rennes v Nice