French champions Paris Saint-Germain face a very important battle in UEFA Champions League Group C as they host group leaders Napoli at Parc des Princes on Wednesday. The two teams have met in just one European tie, it happened in the UEFA Cup back in 1992 and at that time Paris Saint-Germain pulled through with a 2-0 victory on aggregate thanks to two goals from George Weah. Paris Saint-Germain have won just two of their eighteen matches against Italian teams in European competitions, while Napoli have managed to win six matches out of ten against French teams.
Paris Saint-Germain have won twelve of their thirteen matches in all competitions this season and have also won their last six matches in all competitions, scoring an incredible 26 goals in the process. The only match that they have lost this season was the one against Liverpool at the start of the Champions League group stage campaign, the Reds won it 3-2 thanks to a stoppage-time goal from Roberto Firmino. Then PSG recovered with a 6-1 home victory over group minnows Crvena Zvezda, but now they need a result against Napoli in order to boost their qualification chances. Layvin Kurzawa and Dani Alves are injured, but Neymar, Thiago Silva and Thomas Meunier were all rested last weekend and will be in the starting eleven.
Napoli have not been as impressive overall this season, but they have won their last three matches in all competitions and lost just twice since the start of the campaign. Last weekend they secured a 3-0 Serie A victory at Udinese, recording their third consecutive clean sheet in all competitions. In fact, they have not conceded any goals in the Champions League this season, they started with a goalless draw in Belgrade against Crvena Zvezda and then pulled off a great 1-0 victory over Liverpool last time out. Backup defender Vlad Chiriches is out of contention, while Lorenzo Insigne will have to pass a late fitness test. Faouzi Ghoulam, Amin Younes and Alex Meret have recovered from their injuries but their match fitness is not at a good level yet.
Probable line-ups:
PSG: Areola - Meunier, Marquinhos, T. Silva, Bernat - Rabiot, Verratti - Mbappe, Neymar, Di Maria - Cavani
Napoli: Karnezis - Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Rui - Callejon, Allan, Hamsik, Ruiz - Insigne, Milik
My prediction: PSG to win 3-1, Napoli won't be able to cope with the home side's attacking prowess.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
PSG win - 1.44
Draw - 5.25
Napoli win - 7.00
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