Paris Saint-Germain vs Nimes 12/08/19

12 August 2019

The reigning French champions kick off the 2019-20 Ligue 1 (L1) campaign at home, as Paris Saint-Germain welcome Nimes to Parc des Princes for their L1 opener.

Although troubled by concerns involving Neymar, the hosts have already wrapped up one trophy this season, securing a 2-1 win over Rennes in the French Super Cup following a second-half comeback. Still, the Parisians have struggled to impress during their pre-season, picking up two wins in four summer friendlies (W2, D2), with Thomas Tuchel’s men conceding precisely one goal per match three times across that period. But, if something can encourage Tuchel, then it’s the fact that PSG won the Ligue 1 title last season without losing a single home game throughout the 2018-19 campaign (W17, D2). What’s more, PSG’s haul of 105 goals scored in the domestic championship was by far the best attacking output in Europe’s top-five leagues.

It will be a daunting prospect for the visitors to pick up some points here, as they’ve suffered three defeats in as many top-flight H2Hs with PSG, conceding over 2.5 match goals each time. Although they’ve sustained just one loss in five pre-season games (W2, D2, L1), Les Crocodiles have kept only one clean sheet, allowing two or more goals per match three times in the process. Another potential problem for Bernard Blaquart is that just 21 of a total of 53 points Nimes have collected last season have come away from home (39.62%), with ten of their 15 L1 defeats last term arriving on the road. Additionally, Nimes have conceded 2+ match goals in 11 of their previous 12 away games across all competitions, which may be their biggest worry ahead of this clash.