PSG vs Metz 17/09/20

17 September 2020

Paris Saint-Germain will be looking to kick-start their 2020/21 Ligue 1 season when they meet out-of-sorts Metz at the Parc des Princes this midweek.

The reigning champions have started the Ligue 1 title defense with a whimper rather than a bang, losing both of their opening league fixtures via the identical 1-0 scoreline. But, Metz’s visit could help to improve their dismal start to the season. ‘Les Parisiens’ have won all six of their previous top-flight H2H meetings held in Paris, five of which yielded a full-time margin of over 2.5 goals. Last weekend’s defeat to Marseille marked PSG’s first Ligue 1 home game without scoring for the first time since September 2019 (2-0 loss to Reims). Thomas Tuchel’s men had netted over 1.5 goals in ten consecutive home league outings between those two fixtures, scoring an intimidating average of 3.6 goals per game.

Meanwhile, Metz’s start to the season bears much resemblance to the one of PSG, as they’ve also lost both of their opening top-flight matches via the same 1-0 scoreline. For the visitors, goals have been at a premium this calendar year, as they’ve drawn a blank in five of 12 competitive matches since the turn of 2020, scoring precisely once per game in five of the other seven. Additionally, ‘Les Grenats’ were one of just four sides to fail to smash a 10-goal barrier away from home in 2019/20, bagging a miserable average of 0.64 goals per Ligue 1 road fixture last season. That will hardly change now, given they’ve failed to get on the scoresheet in eight of their previous ten competitive trips to Paris!