The two teams yet to suffer defeat in the 2023-24 league season will face off at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on Friday night as Paris Saint-Martin take on Nice. Luis Enrique's side thrashed crisis-hit Lyon 4-1 before the international break, while Nice eased past Strasbourg 2-0 for their first win of the season.
Despite the heavy criticism of their own players by Lyon's diehard fans igniting the post-match headlines, Paris Saint-Germain did their job quietly at a frenzied Stade du Gruppema, scoring four goals in a brilliant first-half performance. Two goals from Mbappe, a breakaway from Hakimi and a shot from Asensio ended the game before the half-time whistle blew. Although Tolisso salvaged a goal from the penalty spot, Lyon's miraculous comeback never came.
Two consecutive draws with Lorient and Toulouse heralded the start of Enrique's middle-of-the-road existence, but with seven goals in their last two games against Lens and Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain have finally begun their pursuit of a third consecutive Ligue 1 title.
However, their possible eight points would only put them in second place in the table, behind early leaders Monaco, and their 13 goals make them the only team better than Paris Saint-Germain's eight, although Reims, Rennes and Le Havre could all reach that figure as well.
However, Nice also started their 2023-24 season in solid and less than stellar fashion, taking three points from their first three games against Lille, Lorient and Lyon before they were lucky with a fourth try when Strasbourg visited.
Despite a lacklustre pre-season for Farioli's men, Nice occupy a respectable seventh place in the league table as their journey to the European competition accelerates as one of the five teams still unbeaten in the competition.
Nice were successful at home to Strasbourg last time out and Farioli's side avenged a 2-0 loss against Courrier in May - their only defeat in their last 10 Ligue 1 matches - and the visitors have only lost five games in the top flight since the start of last season.
However, one of those defeats was at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, where Paris Saint-Germain struggled to beat Nice 2-1 last October before they came away with a 2-0 win from the Stade de la Riviera des Alleynts in April, although Nice most recently beat the champions in the capital in January 2022, winning on penalties in the Cup last 16.
Taking all of these factors into account, we predict a 2-1 Nice result for Paris Saint-Germain in this match. With concerns over Mbappe's fitness and the possibility of several international players being left on the bench, Friday's game could cause particular unease for Paris Saint-Germain. Nice are rarely beaten in their opponents' territory and, the speedy Murphy will pose several problems for the Parisians' defense, but we remain confident that the champions will be able to claim a third consecutive victory.
