Preview: Strasbourg vs Paris FC – prediction, team news, lineups

R.C. Strasbourg Alsace will goal to proceed their push in Ligue 1 once they host Paris F.C. on the Stade de la Meinau on Sunday.

The hosts are nonetheless competing in 4 competitions and should rotate their squad to maintain gamers recent for every fixture, whereas the guests are centered solely on sustaining a secure distance from the relegation locations this season.

Match preview

Strasbourg took a major step towards the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League with a 2–1 victory away to HNK Rijeka on Thursday, however they need to rapidly shift their focus again to home motion as they put together to host Paris FC in Ligue 1 on the Stade de la Meinau on Sunday.

The fixture arrives throughout a demanding stretch for Strasbourg, who’re navigating a packed calendar and will probably be taking part in their fourth match in 13 days, having already contested three video games within the house of 9 days throughout competitions, forcing the Alsace membership to rely closely on squad depth to keep up momentum within the league.

Strasbourg enters the competition in a comparatively robust place within the standings, sitting eighth in Ligue 1 with 36 factors and remaining firmly within the hunt for European qualification locations, though plenty of attracts in current weeks has prevented them from making a stronger push up the desk.

Three of their final six matches have ended degree, together with a goalless draw away to AJ Auxerre of their most up-to-date league outing, whereas the opposite stalemates got here at residence in opposition to title challengers RC Lens and away to Olympique de Marseille.

Despite their demanding schedule, Strasbourg stay in good total kind and are at present unbeaten in six matches whereas persevering with to compete on a number of fronts, balancing their league marketing campaign with European and home cup commitments.

However, fatigue might quickly grow to be an element because the schedule intensifies, which means cautious rotation and recreation administration will doubtless be required from head coach Martin O’Neil and his workers forward of Sunday’s encounter.

With 9 matches remaining within the season, Le Racing sit 5 factors behind the qualification locations for the UEFA Europa League and Conference League and might want to rediscover consistency and start placing collectively a sustained run of victories if they’re to return to European competitors subsequent season.

Encouragingly for the guests, the reverse fixture earlier this marketing campaign proved aggressive as Strasbourg edged a 3–2 victory, whereas the Alsace facet have misplaced simply three of the final 15 conferences between the 2 groups, recording seven wins and 5 attracts throughout that interval.

The menace of relegation grew to become a severe concern for Paris FC following a poor run of outcomes that prompted the membership to make a managerial change, dismissing Stephane Gilli and appointing Antoine Kombouare in February in an try and stabilize their season.

The 62-12 months-previous coach, usually described because the “French Sam Allardyce,” has constructed a popularity as a specialist in retaining golf equipment within the prime division after beforehand attaining survival with groups resembling Valenciennes FC, Dijon FCO and FC Nantes, and he has already introduced a way of stability inside a short while of taking cost.

Kombouare made an instantaneous affect by successful his first match in cost away from residence, guiding Paris FC to a 1–0 victory over OGC Nice on March 1 to finish the membership’s six-match winless run in all competitions.

He got here near securing a second victory final weekend in opposition to Olympique Lyonnais, however his facet had been denied by a dramatic 96th-minute penalty that compelled a 1–1 draw in opposition to one of the in-kind groups in Ligue 1 because the begin of the 12 months.

Paris FC arrive in Alsace hoping to construct on that encouraging efficiency, at present sitting thirteenth on the desk and sustaining a cushion above the relegation locations because of a collection of resilient shows in current weeks.

The capital membership have suffered solely two defeats of their final six matches throughout all competitions, whereas their draw away to Lyon highlighted their skill to compete in opposition to stronger opposition.

Their away kind has additionally proven indicators of enchancment, with the team unbeaten of their final three home matches on the street whereas conceding simply twice throughout that run.

Strasbourg Ligue 1 kind:

Strasbourg kind (all competitions):

Paris FC Ligue 1 kind:

Paris FC kind (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago

O’Neil made 5 modifications to the team that drew with Auxerre final weekend when Strasbourg defeated Rijeka within the Conference League on Thursday, and with the second leg scheduled for subsequent week, the supervisor might want to rigorously handle his squad to keep away from additional accidents.

Strasbourg are already coping with a number of damage issues, together with striker Emanuel Emegha who stays sidelined with a muscle fiber tear, defend Aaron Anselmino who’s recovering from a hamstring damage, and winger Diego Moreira who’s unavailable resulting from an abductor drawback.

Paris FC additionally added two extra names to their damage listing final weekend as each Rudy Matondo and Marshall Munetsi had been compelled off with suspected accidents in the course of the draw with Lyon.

Other gamers at present sidelined for the guests embody Pierre-Yves Hamel with a calf pressure, Sofiane Alakouch with a knee drawback, in addition to Remy Riou, Lamine Gueye and Hamari Traore.

There is healthier information, nonetheless, because the trio of Otavio, Thibault De Smet and Ilan Kebbal are all obtainable once more after serving their respective suspensions.

Strasbourg attainable beginning lineup:

Penders; Doue, Doukoure, Omobamidele, Chilwell; Oyedele, Ouattara, Enciso; Yassine, Godo; Fofana

Paris FC attainable beginning lineup:

Trapp; Coppola, Mbow, Camara, Sangui; Lees-Melou, Marchetti, Ollila; Simon, Ikone, Krasso

We say: Strasbourg 0-1 Paris FC

Strasbourg’s fast precedence could also be ending the job in opposition to Rijeka within the Conference League subsequent week, which means rotation is probably going for Sunday’s match, which might make this a difficult league fixture in opposition to an opponent preventing to maneuver additional away from the relegation zone.

Paris FC got here near defeating Lyon final weekend and, with the “new manager bounce” nonetheless evident beneath Kombouare, the guests could possibly be able to grinding out one other optimistic lead to Alsace.

For knowledge evaluation of the most definitely outcomes, scorelines and extra for this match please click here.