This Sunday, as part of Matchday 7 of the 2025-2026 Ligue 1 season, first-place Paris Saint-Germain will face eighth-place Lille at the Stade Pierre Mauroy (kick-off at 8:45 p.m., CET). The referee for the match has been chosen: Benoît Bastien (42 years old). He has extensive experience in Ligue 1, having played 261 matches.
The referee will be assisted by Hichram Zakrani and Aurélien Berthomieu. Abdelatif Kherradji will serve as fourth official. Video assistants will be provided by Cyril Gringore and Julien Schmitt.
Yellow Cards –
With Mr. Bastien at the whistle, we can expect yellow cards to be issued very quickly during the match. Indeed, while the national average per match is 3.53 (standard deviation of 0.39), Sunday’s referee has given an average of 3.92 yellow cards per match throughout his Ligue 1 career (Transfermarkt figures). This is much higher than the average; let’s hope it’s done to protect the players and not forget dialogue.
Straight Red Cards –
The referee this Sunday is a little harsher on the straight red cards. Indeed, Bastien has 0.18 exclusions per match in his career, while the national average per match is 0.17 (standard deviation of 0.07). There’s therefore no question of letting bad actions slide, without necessarily punishing them in all directions.
Second Yellow Cards –
Benoît Bastien sent off a player an average of 0.07 times after his first yellow card in a Ligue 1 match. The national average is 0.09 (standard deviation of 0.03). With so many yellows and reds, this is rather surprising. The idea is clearly to calm the players down.
Penalties –
Finally, regarding penalties, the whistle-blower on Sunday was lower than the average with 0.33 penalties awarded per match, while in Ligue 1 the average is 0.34 (standard deviation of 0.08).
