This Friday, as part of Matchday 14 of Ligue 1 2024-2025, Paris Saint-Germain (1st) take on Auxerre (8th) at the Stade de l’Abbé-Deschamps (kick-off 9pm, broadcast on DAZN in France). On the eve of this encounter, the press tried to guess the team that will be fielded by Paris coach Luis Enrique and his Auxerre counterpart Christophe Pélissier.
Auxerre :
Le Parisien et L’Equipe (3-4-3 or 5-4-1) –
Traoré – Sinayoko – Perrin
Mensah – Danois – Owusu – Hoever
Akpa – Jubal – Osho
Léon
Auxerre are enjoying a fine run of form and are coming into the season in confident mood, with an 8th-place finish that gives them some peace of mind with regard to their chances of staying up. Even if the standings are tight. This may help Pélissier’s decision to approach the match with his usual defensive philosophy, based on quick counter-attacks.
Especially as PSG’s lack of efficiency and mounting pressure may tempt him to try and push him towards annoyance, and thus focus even more on this defensive block. As always, let’s wait for kick-off to be sure.
PSG :
Le Parisien (4-3-3) –
Barcola – Ramos – Lee
Neves – Vitinha – Zaïre-Emery
Mendes – Pacho – Marquinhos – Hakimi
Donnarumma.
L’Equipe (4-3-3) –
Barcola – Ramos – Dembélé
Ruiz – Neves – Zaïre-Emery
Beraldo – Pacho – Marquinhos – Hakimi
Donnarumma.
Given the squad, every team seems possible and there is no certainty with Luis Enrique, who knows how to make strong choices and surprise. There is also his analysis of the opponent to define the priorities in the game.
The Parisians have had time since last Saturday to rest and prepare, but the Champions League returns on Tuesday with a trip to Salzburg, where 3 points are crucial. There’s plenty of time between the two encounters, so it’s worth taking that into account.
Not to mention the fact that PSG have games roughly every 3 days until December 22 (French Cup Round of 32 against Lens). So it’s hard to be sure how they’ll manage tonight’s match, between the need for confidence, pace and caution. But the idea will be to win, of course.
