Here is the PSG vs. AS Monaco preview: Starting lineup predictions and team news. Desire Doue and Ferran Torres lead the attack as Monaco bring form.
On the eve of the PSG vs. Monaco match in Ligue 1 Matchday 3, the trends in both teams' lineups are already clear. Several changes are expected in Luis Enrique's starting eleven compared to the last 2-2 draw at Lille.
Before returning to the Champions League next week, PSG returns to Ligue 1 and the Parc des Princes on Friday night against AS Monaco, three and a half months after its last home match against Brest. The Parc des Princes pitch has been changed in recent days and is ready to host this Matchday 3 clash between the reigning French champion and the current Ligue 1 leader.
In PSG's lineup against Monaco, the left-back starting in Nuno Mendes's absence remains a real unknown. Lucas Digne was supposed to be his backup, but the Frenchman has just come off two matches on the bench. Fortunately for him, Lucas Hernandez and then Warren Zaire-Emery did not really satisfy, and he should therefore get another chance. In the centre, Ilya Zabarnyi is a possibility, although he is more likely to be expected at Brest on the following matchday.
In midfield, there is a logjam since everyone is fit. Vitinha still seems to be the No. 1 choice and should start, probably in front of the defence. At the start of the season, minutes have been managed by the staff, but the regular absences of Joao Neves, already absent twice, have prevented him from accumulating playing time, and he needs it now that he is fit. For the third spot, Fabian Ruiz and Warren Zaire-Emery are competing, with the Spaniard having the advantage at kickoff.
PSG's attack against Monaco is also difficult to define, even if Desire Doue seems undisputed at this point in the season, regardless of the position he occupies. Ferran Torres also has an advantage, notably because Ousmane Dembele is far from ready, and he should start in the centre or on the right side. For the last spot, Kvaratskhelia, Akliouche and even Godts are in contention. The left wing position would naturally go to the Georgian, who has had a rather insipid start to the season.
PSG predicted starting XI vs. Monaco: Safonov; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Digne; Neves, Vitinha, Ruiz; Doue, Torres, Kvaratskhelia.
On the AS Monaco side, which won 1-0 at Le Havre on Matchday 1 and 2-0 at home against Marseille on Matchday 2, Filipe Luis still has the same absentees: the long-term injured Mohammed Salisu and Takumi Minamino.
Ansu Fati is still too short after his right calf problem, while Folarin Balogun has had a knee issue since the World Cup and must digest his failed transfer to Everton. Despite his failed move to Chelsea on the last day of the transfer window, Lamine Camara trained normally on Wednesday, and Filipe Luis said he would be at 100% against PSG.
"With everything he has experienced in recent days, obviously, it can have an impact on his mind," the Monaco coach acknowledged in a press conference on Wednesday. "But honestly, he is a special boy; I feel it every day in training, every day I speak with him (...) He will be 100% ready against PSG!"
AS Monaco could therefore line up the same starting eleven for the third consecutive matchday, notably with Lamine Camara in midfield alongside his captain, Denis Zakaria, as well as young German striker Paris Brunner up front, coming off a resounding brace against Marseille. Behind them, Thilo Kehrer was left on loan to Ajax Amsterdam, but Eric Dier (scorer at Le Havre) was preferred by Filipe Luis from the start of the season anyway.
A possible change could, however, occur in the Monaco lineup, since Nice-Matin reports that two Russian clubs (Zenit and Spartak Moscow) want to recruit Aleksandr Golovin before Sept. 10, the end of the Russian transfer window. The Russian attacking midfielder will be in the squad for PSG vs. Monaco, according to the same source, but it is not certain that he will start at the Parc des Princes in this context. Matthis Abline, who replaced him against Marseille last Sunday, is an option to start in his place.
Monaco predicted starting XI vs. PSG: Hradecky; Vanderson, Sane, Dier, Nazinho; L. Camara, Zakaria; Coulibaly, Golovin (or Abline), Idumbo; Brunner.
