AS Monaco – PSG

It’s hard to pick a favourite in the centrepiece of the next round of Ligue 1

PSG face Monaco on the road in the 23rd round of the French championship. These are tough times for the Parisians. They have a series of matches against strong opponents on their schedule, which began in the middle of the week when PSG lost away to Marseille in the 1/8 finals of the French Cup. It was a powerfully energy-consuming battle against a major rival. And in a few days' time, PSG travel to an equally difficult away trip to Monaco. Monaco are in good form at the moment, they have broken into the top four in Ligue 1 and are only two points behind second-placed Marseille, so have managed to wedge themselves into the battle for a Champions League place, although they have not started the season very confidently. In the French league, Monaco are unbeaten in seven games. That said, the quality of Philippe Clement's side's play has been on an upward trend. Last round, Monaco defeated Clermont 2-0 away and before that they snatched a 3-2 win over Auxerre. During the unbeaten streak, Monaco drew twice in seven meetings. The Monegasques have not conceded in this series only twice. So, for all the positive results, reliability in defence is lacking. And this should be taken advantage of by star PSG, who, after the defeat to Marseille, have no right to stumble again and will be charged with fighting and anger. Even despite their indulgent attitude towards Ligue 1 and their mindset for their upcoming Champions League match against Bayern Munich. The game against Monaco is already a matter of honour. The defeat to Marseille was PSG's third since resuming the season from the World Cup break. For such a team, it is a lot. And the Monégasques have been unable to beat PSG for two games in a row. Monaco won 3-0 at home last season and drew 1-1 in the first match of the current season.