St. Etienne vs Paris Saint-Germain 16/12/19

16 December 2019

Paris Saint-Germain head to the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard to take on St. Etienne, looking to extend an intimidating 13-game unbeaten run in Ligue 1 (L1) H2Hs (W9, D4).

St. Etienne’s dip in form has seen them pick up just one victory in their last four L1 outings (W1, D1, L2) and slip to eighth in the table. Sitting six points adrift of third-placed Lille, the hosts need some sort of a miracle here to reduce the gap, given that their last L1 home win over PSG dates back to 2008. Les Verts have, in fact, suffered five defeats in ten of their previous top-flight home H2Hs with PSG (D5, L5), drawing a blank in four of their last five L1 meetings held here. Indeed, a lack of goals could be St. Etienne’s main problem here. Claude Puel’s men have failed to find the net in two of their last three competitive games on home turf. They’ve netted one goal or less in five of eight L1 home matches this term, scoring an average of 1.37 goals per L1 home fixture to date.

As for the visitors, they have hit a purple patch recently, securing six triumphs in their last seven outings in all competitions, with a 2-2 away draw with Real Madrid in the Champions League being the lone exception. PSG’s free-scoring form during that seven-game sequence has seen them score 2+ match goals on six of those occasions, with 64% of their total goals scored in that period coming in the second half. Still, the reigning holders will have to defy an indifferent away form to win here, as they’ve pulled off two wins in their last four road trips in all competitions (W2, D1, L1). Curiously though, all of those four matches have featured three or more goals and witnessed both teams score.