After a disappointing season, Paris-Saint Germain, as the defending champions, finished behind Monaco by some way in 2nd place. This season, with Neymar expected to join, PSG look ready to reclaim their Ligue 1 trophy and make a big statement within Europe.
SC Amiens meanwhile will be hoping to survive in the Ligue 1 after being promoted from Ligue 2 finishing as runners up. SC Amiens will dream of kicking their season off to a good start against tricky opposition to take their first step on the road to survival.
Take a look at our season preview for a more in-depth analysis of this summer’s Ligue 1 transfers.
PSG vs. Amiens
3-Way: 1: PSG -588; X: +1000 Draw; 2: Amiens +3300
Spread -2.5: PSG +106; Amiens -111
Total +3.5: Over -102; Under +100
PSG
PSG will be eager to right their wrongs after losing their 4-year French Ligue 1 reign to Monaco, which seems like a massive step backwards considering that they finished 31 points ahead of Monaco and won their 2nd French treble in a row in the 2015-16 season.
It could be said that Les Parisians lost the league by January; a tricky December saw them drop seven points winning just once, with 2 losses to Montpellier and Guingamp and drawing with Nice at home.
However, it is not unknown that PSG’s ambitions today do not lie with domestic trophies, but with the Champions League, and last season’s campaign culminated in a disastrous last 16 round where they lost to Barcelona after surrendering a 4:0 lead in 1st leg, to lose 6:1 in 2nd leg and 6:5 on aggregate. I wonder if there is a French equivalent for “don’t put all your eggs into one basket”?
The biggest worry for Unai Emery’s side is that they have lost their fear-factor, as the once untouchables are now perceived as the vulnerables. The main issue may lie through their lack of goals, as PSG ended the season with a total of 83 goals which was 24 less than Monaco. Saying that, it was through no fault of top-scorer Cavani who finished with 35 goals, but delving further into the issue the next highest goal scorer was Lucas Moura who ended the season with 12 goals; respectable, but PSG need another 25+ goal-a-season man to help them back to the top.
To address this, PSG has made a big wave in football through the prospective signing of Neymar for around €222 million Euros, who will not only bring goals to Parc des Princes but will also bring back their fear-factor. Furthermore, PSG were extremely creative last season, producing 127 clear-cut chances, the highest in the Ligue 1, many of these through the technically-gifted Marco Veratti; the prospect of Veratti feeding Neymar from midfield is tantalizing.
Over the summer PSG has not made many other transfers of such huge magnitude, other than Brazilian defender Dani Alves from Juventus on a free transfer who will make a great impact down the right-wing as well as adding winning mentality. Not much of note has gone the other way, although they did let young prospect Jean-Kévin Augustin go to RB Leipzig for €11.05 million Euros as his playing time was always limited behind Cavani.
Form coming into the first game of the season has been a mixed bag. Although they won 8 of their last 10 league games last season, PSG lost two high-scoring friendlies against Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus. However, the red-and-blues will be very content with a spirited 2:1 victory over Ligue 1 rivals Monaco in the Super Copa final.
Unai Emery will have a full squad selection for Saturday`s game.
SC Amiens
Newly promoted side SC Amiens couldn’t have met Ligue 1 with a colder reception after drawing PSG for their first league game. Fans of Les Licornes can hope for a gutsy performance after an equally audacious league campaign that saw them promoted through a 2nd place finish.
Disappointingly for SC Amiens, they were knocked out early from the Coupe de France at home against Chambly, who are now two leagues below in the Championnat national.
Defensively Amiens were excellent, conceding just 38 goals which was the best record in Ligue 2. Although, it should be noted that 2nd place was achieved while scoring just 56 goals, a lower number than 3rd ,4th , 5th and 6th placed teams in Ligue 2.
Additionally, none of Amiens players managed to net more than 10 goals, other than Aboubakar Kamara who netted 11 times.
Unfortunately for Amiens, Kamara has left for Fulham for a fee of 5.1 million Euros and has taken his goals with him. Furthermore, they have not invested appropriately in this department over the summer, with ex-Chelsea player Gael Kakuta seeming like the most likely addition to contribute goals. Defensively however, is an entirely different story, with Ligue 1 veteran Mathieu Bodmer, who has previously played for Lyon and PSG, will add the necessary experience after the 34-year-old arrived from Guingamp on a free transfer.
In addition, centre-back Prince Gouano from Atlanta looks like a shrewd piece of business and will only help shore up the defense. Nevertheless, what SC Amiens may find out the hard way is that goals keep a team afloat; last season for example, Nancy and Bastia conceded less than 15th, 16th and 17th placed teams, but only scored 29 goals each. “Where did they finish?”, well of course they occupied the two bottom positions of the league table.
Amiens had a perfect end to their league campaign, winning each of their last six games. However, pre-season tells a different story as they only won two of their seven games over the summer, and lost their last three including a loss to fellow promoted team, Troyes.
Manager Christophe Pélissier has a full squad roster for Saturday’s game.
PSG vs. SC Amiens – MATCH PREDICTION
PSG will look to turn their failures into successes, starting the Ligue 1 campaign by getting their first win under their belt. Furthermore, they will smell blood here against a weaker side, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see PSG go all guns blazing. Unai Emery will also be fully aware about SC Amiens lack of goal-threat, therefore will be less concerned with his sides defensive duties.
SC Amiens will do all they can to keep PSG out, and may keep it low-scoring for the first half, but legs and heads will start to tire, and once the floodgates open expect an onrush of attack from the Parisians, as they look to make a statement of intent.
PSG to win by a clear margin with a sign of what is to come.
MY PICK: Over 3.5 goals (+100)
