Lens vs PSG: How will PSG react after poor midweek showing?

Earlier this week, PSG took on Nice, and for the first time this season, failed to win at the Parc des Princes. It was a poor showing overall from Les Parisiens, with many criticizing Lionel Messi’s performance after he controversially won his seventh Ballon d’Or title. While it hasn’t dented PSG’s lead at the top of the table – with the capital giants boasting a 12 point lead over the chasing pack – their issues were on full display during the frustrating draw with Nice.

So far, Messi has scored just one goal in Ligue 1, and four across all comps. And instead of forming a feared attack alongside Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, the three stars have failed to click. Even Mbappe has cut a more subdued figure, with seven goals in Ligue 1 this season. Whilst that’s still a solid haul, he has quite a bit of ground to make up if he wants to come anywhere near the 27 he plundered for Les Parisiens last campaign. To complicate matters, Neymar has suffered an ankle injury that is set to see the Brazilian superstar miss about eight weeks of action, which comes as another big blow for Pochettino.

Interestingly enough, Pochettino was recently linked with a move back to the Premier League, with Manchester United being mentioned as his next possible destination. The Red Devils have decided to go in another direction – for now – with German tactician Ralf Rangnick being given the post, but it’ll be curious to see if Pochettino ends up returning to England at the end of this season.

Meanwhile, Lens come into this game in a poor run of form. It’s a stark contrast to the start of this season, which saw Franck Haise’s side pick up an impressive 18 points from their first nine games. That has now passed, and they’ve won just two of their last seven games. It’s important, however, to keep in mind that Lens were playing in Ligue 2 two years ago, and at the moment, they sit in fifth spot – ahead of teams like Lille and Monaco, who are the only other sides besides PSG to win the Ligue 1 title in recent times.

Still, it will naturally be a tough test on the cards for the hosts – although historically, they do hold a slight edge when playing at home against PSG. To date, Lens have lost nine of their prior 31 meetings with Les Parisiens at home, while winning 12 and drawing ten. It will be interesting to see if they can use this as some kind of boost when PSG come to town this weekend, but it’s safe to say that they will need to play one of their best games of the season in order to get a result against the runaway league leaders.