PSG will have star player Neymar Jr make his latest return from injury when they host Lille at the Parc de Princes on Friday night.
The Brazilian has been out of action for over a month after he suffered a hamstring injury in a friendly against Nigeria last month.
It was his latest injury as the forward has consistently been out during his time with the Parisians.
His availability on Friday was confirmed by head coach Tomas Tuchel who also confirmed that Neymar will not play 90 minutes.
“Neymar feels good,” Tuchel said. “He has trained well and will be in the group for tomorrow’s match, but he will not be able to play 90 minutes.
“He will bring us quality and decisiveness. When he is with us, we are super dangerous. That is necessary if we want to continue to win.
While Neymar is returning, PSG have other injury concerns ahead of the game with Thomas Mounier and Kaylor Navas both doubts. Marco Verratti has an outside chance of playing and Thilo Kehrer is back in training, although Ander Herrera, Kylian Mbappe and Loic Mbe Soh are all definitely ruled out.
PSG went into the international break on the back of a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Brest that saw them require a late Mauro Icardi strike to win the contest.
The three points earned against Brest ensured that Tuchel’s side starts the day with a healthy 8-point lead at the top of the standings.
For Lille, they have had an average start to the current campaign as compared to the 2018/19 exploits.
They currently sit 4th and on the back of a three-game winless run in all competitions. Two of those games have been in the league as they lost 2-1 at Lyon before drawing 0-0 in the last game before the international break.
The game against PSG is a tough one and with Ajax coming up next in the Champions League, Lille’s attention is divided at the moment.
The latest meeting between the two saw Lille humiliate PSG 5-1 at the back end of last season. That victory put an end to PSG’s run of 7 consecutive victories. Lille’s last victory away to PSG dates back to April 1996, further highlighting the task at hand for Christoph Galtier’s side.
On Saturday, Lyon will be hoping to return to winning ways when they take on Nice.
Rudi Garcia’s side saw a two match-winning run come to an end before the international break as they lost 2-1 away to Marseille.
It has been a trying season for them thus far as they currently sit 14th having won just 4 games all season.
Against Nice, they take on a side that has seen its form deteriorate in the last few months. Patrick Viera’s side who are 13th have won just one of their past 7 league games and will be worry of suffering a 5th loss in 8.
However, Nice defeated Lyon 1-0 home and away last season and will be hoping to go a third game unbeaten against a side they have beaten only once away from home in the last four attempts.
The other interesting fixture this weekend will see Bordeaux host Monaco on Sunday.
The hosts started the season in good form as they lost only one in their first seven games. However, things have taken a different path lately as they have won only one of their past four and as a consequence, dropped into 7th on the log.
For Monaco, they have impressively recovered from a slow start and surged up the table in impressive fashion.
Leandro Jardim’s side who once sat bottom of the pile are now 11th on the standings having lost only one of their last five games.
Last season, Bordeaux took four points off Monaco including a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture.
All the Ligue One fixtures this weekend
Friday, 22-11-2019
-PSG vs Lille @10:45pm
Saturday, 23-11-2019
-Lyon vs Nice @7:30pm
-Brest vs Nantes @10pm
-Metz vs Reims @10pm
-Amines vs Strasbourg @10pm
-Angers vs Nimes @10pm
-Dijon vs Rennes @10pm
Sunday, 24-11-2019
-Bordeaux vs Monaco @5pm
-Saint Etienne vs Montpellier @7pm
-Toulouse vs Marseille @11pm
