Ligue 1 Preview: Sochaux – Paris Saint-Germain

Out Of The Ashes

Since the news broke of Charlie Davies’ horror car crash, Sochaux, from the very nadir of their season, have raised their game impressively, seemingly bolstered by the shock and doubly determined to perform to a high level in honour of their seriously injured team-mate.

Of course, such an incident would certainly not have been head coach Francis Gillot’s idea way of kick-starting his side, but he can’t fail to be delighted by the manner in which they’ve responded to such a tragedy.

Only a month ago les Lionceaux were loitering in the relegation zone, with a 2-1 defeat against Nancy carrying the Doubs outfit to their sixth defeat out of eight matches. An unconvincing 1-0 success over Le Mans followed – Davies’ last match of the season – but, after the international break, suddenly the blue and gold club started to roar.

A 2-0 victory away to Olympique Lyonnais was clinical and their 1-0 success last weekend against Lorient was a largely under-rated result against a side who have been going well in Le Championnat. In both matches the young side impressed with their effervescence and determination, and those qualities will again have to be on display against PSG.

Ligue 1 is phenomenally tight at this early stage, so even a temporary dip in form could signal an alarming slump in position. Gillot will therefore be keen to keep the positive momentum in his unit going.

Slipping Away

PSG head coach Antoine Kombouare knows all about momentum, and his side are moving in exactly the opposite direction to their opponents, with no wins at all in five Ligue 1 matches.

The rot was stopped in a fashion last weekend, when les Parisiens’ match against Olympique de Marseille – a fixture they were widely tipped to lose – was postponed at the last minute due to the risk of swine flu spreading from the PSG squad into the OM team.

Of course, the outcome was rather chaotic on several fronts, most notably for the town of Marseille, which bore witness to some ugly scenes, and the repercussions were hardly clear-cut either. A rearranged date of Friday, November 20 was agreed, and though PSG and OM seem relatively content, Sochaux have been left aggrieved because it has meant their fixture against les Phoceens has been shifted to December 2, with the possibility of a further amendment to the schedule in the future.

While the politics are rather complicated, what is clear is that PSG now seem to be a swine flu-free team. Ludovic Giuly and Mamadou Sakho, who were the players most affected by the H1N1 virus, are both back and fighting fit. Jeremy Clement and Loris Arnaud are also available.

Hindsight will likely show that events have played out kindly for les Parisiens over the course of the last fortnight, and Kombouare will look to build on this to claim three points at the Doubs venue, where they won on the final day of the season two campaigns ago to secure their Ligue 1 lives.

FORM

Sochaux

WON 1-0 (h) Lorient (Ligue 1, Matchday 10, October 24)

WON 2-0 (a) Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1, Matchday 9, October 17)

WON 1-0 (h) Le Mans (Ligue 1, Matchday 8, October 3)

LOST 2-1 (a) Nancy (Ligue 1, Matchday 7, September 26)

LOST 2-1 (a) Stade Rennais (Coupe de la Ligue, 1/16 final, September 23)

PSG

LOST 1-0 (a) Toulouse (Ligue 1, Matchday 9, October 18)

DREW 1-1 (h) Nancy (Ligue 1, Matchday 8, October 3)

DREW 1-1 (a) Lorient (Ligue 1, Matchday 7, September 26)

WON 1-0 (a) Boulogne-Sur-Mer (Coupe de la Ligue, 1/16 final, September 23)

DREW 1-1 (h) Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1, Matchday 6, September 20)

TEAM NEWS

Sochaux

There was talk of Sochaux’s very own swine flu crisis earlier in the week, with players such as Yassin Mikari, Ivan Stevanovic and Bojan Jokic supposedly ill. However, such rumours were dispelled by president Alexandre Lacombe, who would admit that two squad members had run a high fever.

Nevertheless, Stevanovic is likely to sit out through injury, while Stephane Dalmat is also a significant doubt.

Davies obviously misses out along with Carlao. Nicolas Maurice-Belay is banned.

Probable Staring XI: Richert; Faty, Brechet, Perquis, Drame; Boudebouz, Nogueira, Gavanon, Mikari; Martin; Sverkos

PSG

Guillaume Hoarau faces several weeks on the sidelines and will not be available for this fixture. Zoumana Camara is also missing, but the big defender is nearing a comeback.

There is better news on the illness front as Giuly, Sakho, Clement and Arnaud are all available again. Les Parisiens are hopeful that Mevlut Erding should be able to feature for the first time since August, ironically against his former employers.

Claude Makelele is banned.

Probable Starting XI: Coupet; Ceara, Traore, Sakho, Armand; Giuly, Ngoyi, Clement, Sessegnon; Luyindula, Erding

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Sochaux

Twenty-one-year-old Marvin Martin is one of only a handful of Sochaux players to have featured in all of their opening ten games of the season, and he has made a fairly big impression. Given quite an offensive role in midfield, he has scored twice and registered another couple of assists, making him one of les Lionceaux’s most productive attackers. He will have to be closely watched.

PSG

Stephane Sessegnon is the leading assist-maker in the PSG side this season. He noted that he was fired up last weekend before the Clasico so will have been disappointed it was postponed. Fuelled by those who have criticised his consistency, the diminutive offensive midfielder who hails from Benin will feel he has a point to prove, so Sochaux better be wart.

PREDICTION

The capital club are hardly firing on all cylinders at the moment, but there appears to be a feeling of slight optimism engulfing the PSG side at present. However, Sochaux have battled tenaciously of late and will not give this game up easily. Expect les Parisiens to be frustrated once more.

Sochaux 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain

Robin Bairner, Goal.com