Paris Saint-Germain round off their group stage fixtures in the UEFA Champions League with the visit of Club Bruges on Tuesday night. Les Parisiens fell to a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on matchday five, while their Belgian counterparts were hit for five against RB Leipzig.
The Ligue 1 giants were held to a 1-1 draw by Lens in their previous outing, with Georginio Wijnaldum rescuing a point for them thanks to an injury-time winner. PSG can only boast one win in their last four games across all competitions heading into their encounter with Bruges. They missed an opportunity to make it 10 wins in a row at the Parc des Princes during their visit to Nice, but Bruges still face an uphill battle for success this week.
The two sides met in the reverse fixture in the opening match of the Champions League campaign in September, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Club Bruges put up a brilliant performance to hold PSG to a draw and also had a higher xG than the French side. Noa Land had the highest xG in their previous meeting, with five of his attempted shots being on target.
PSG had a total of eight shots in their previous game against Bruges and managed to keep four on target. Three of these efforts were denied by the Belgian side’s keeper as they kept the stars of PSG from scoring more goals. PSG also hit the post one with one of their shots from outside the penalty area.
Kylian Mbappe has completed the third-most number of dribbles in the league and has a high xT from these dribbles. Mbappe has scored two goals so far and has been their biggest threat in the tournament.
Club Bruges have lost three games in a row in the competition but have fared better in the Belgian Pro League and recorded a 3-2 win over RFC Seraing on Sunday, with all goals scored in the first half. An opening draw with PSG and victory over Leipzig had Club Brugge down as a European surprise package for some, but Club Bruges have been unable to maintain that intensity and are now battling for the Europa League spot.
The above visual shows us Club Bruges’ shot map from their PSG clash. The visual indicates that Club Bruges constructed most of their attacks from the left flank as they attempted their efforts on goal from the same side. They only had one shot from the right flank, which was off target. Club Bruges will look to put up a similar performance in their last game of this edition of the Champions League.
This game’s outcome won’t affect PSG’s position in the Group A standings but a win here might help the visiting side secure a place in the Europa League knockout rounds.
Paris Saint-Germain predicted starting lineup:
Donnarumma, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Diallo, Mendes, Rafinha, Gueye, Wijnaldum, Di Maria, Icardi, Mbappe.
Club Brugge predicted starting lineup:
Mignolet, Mata, Hendry, Nsoki, Sobol, Rits, Balanta, Vanaken, De Ketelaere, Dost, Lang.
