On the eve of the match and with the absences now known, it is already possible to predict the lineups for Sporting vs. Paris Saint-Germain, the Champions League Matchday 7 fixture to be played Tuesday night in Lisbon.

Unbeaten away in the Champions League this season (two wins and one draw), PSG, currently third, will try to consolidate its place in the top 8 on Tuesday night in Lisbon against Sporting Portugal, a mid-table opponent (14th out of 36) who will be very depleted against the Parisians.

The absences are also numerous on the PSG side, with missing starters like João Neves or Achraf Hakimi, and Luis Enrique has some important choices to make.

On the PSG side, the lineup to face Sporting is both complicated to predict due to strong doubts about a few positions and rather simple given the numerous absences (Neves, Hakimi, etc.).

Mayulu's poor individual performance against Lille and the good second half in the same match clearly favor a start for Zabarnyi at the right-back position, which frees up Nuno Mendes offensively on the left side and sends Warren Zaïre-Emery into the midfield in place of João Neves, alongside Fabian Ruiz and Vitinha.

While the defense seems known, the other major question in the starting eleven obviously concerns the left winger position. Kvaratskhelia had a very poor match on Friday night against Lille, while his replacement, Bradley Barcola, found the back of the net after a long dry spell.

Dembélé is untouchable in the center, Doué still seems safe for the right side, but the duel between Kvara and Barcola is very real on the left.

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PSG's predicted lineup vs. Sporting: Chevalier; Zabarnyi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Zaïre-Emery, Vitinha, Ruiz; Doué, Dembélé, Barcola (or Kvaratskhelia).

On the Sporting side, the lineup that will challenge PSG is particularly hard to predict given the very high number of absences, including many starters (Hjulmand, Diomandé, Quenda, Pote, etc.), but a 4-2-3-1 is still expected from the Lisbon side.

Overall, seven players are certain starters for SCP, namely goalkeeper Rui Silva, center-back Inacio, the two central midfielders Morita and Simoes, the No. 10 Trincao, right winger Geny, and striker Luis Suarez, formerly of Olympique Marseille.

For the rest, it's a great unknown and quite a makeshift job in sight, with players like Debast, just back from injury, causing versatile players like Maxi, Reis, or Fresneda to change positions.

It seems the latter will be the starting right-back, while Matheus Reis, a left-back, could fill in centrally for this match. On the left, the spot is between him and Maxi, possibly deployed as a left winger as well, although Alisson Santos is a serious candidate.

In short, many possible combinations depending on the desires of coach Rui Borges, and above all, the players available.

Sporting's predicted lineup vs. PSG: Rui Silva; Fresneda, Inacio, Reis, Maxi; Simoes, Morita; Geny, Trincao, Alisson Santos; Luis Suarez.

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