Football

Five things to watch during Ligue 1 Matchday 24 as Paris Saint-Germain look to get back to winning ways against Paulo Fonseca's Lille - live on BT Sport!

The French giants have already lost five times in 2023 across all competitions - more than in the entirety of 2022 - and next face an opponent who pipped them to the title two years ago.

Published: 18 February 2023, 1.20am | 7 min read

After the first weekend of February saw Paris Saint-Germain capitalise on rivals slipping up to stretch their lead at the top of Ligue 1, the opposite occurred in the most recent matchday as Christophe Galtier's men lost 3-1 to Monaco - their third away league defeat in 2023 already.

This Sunday, the reigning champions host a Lille side who still harbour hopes of finishing in the top three and have taken seven points from a possible nine, including an impressive comeback victory over Rennes.

Read on for the lowdown on that match and all the other major storylines ahead of Matchday 24, along with all the TV information you need to know.

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PSG's season in danger of falling apart

It may be verging on hyperbole, but Paris Saint-Germain are in something of a crisis, given the enormous wealth that has been poured into the club.

The reigning Ligue 1 champions have lost three games in the space of six devastating days across three competitions, exiting the Coupe de France at the hands of Marseille, suffering a 3-1 league defeat to Monaco and, despite the return of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, coming out on the wrong side of a 1-0 scoreline against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash.

Given how coveted Europe's most prestigious footballing prize is for a club that has suffered several notable disappointments in their quest to win it, the loss to Bayern, in which PSG mustered just four shots on target, was undoubtedly the biggest blow of the three.

However, the Monaco defeat certainly hurt, with Presnel Kimpembe using a megaphone to apologise to the travelling support.

It was also revealed that Neymar, Marquinhos and club sporting director Luis Campos were involvement in an angry exchange in the visiting dressing room after the match at Stade Louis II.

Neymar was dismayed that the story managed to get out and has vowed to find out who leaked that information to the press.

The loss to the principality outfit, coupled with Marseille's 2-0 win at Clermont, means that there are now only five points separating the pair, while Monaco lie in wait in third having won six and drawn two of their last eight league games.

The positives for PSG are the continued maturity shown by 16-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery - who become the youngest player to start a Champions League knockout game when he featured against Bayern - as well as the return of Messi and Mbappe, who you imagine will get back to their brilliant best sooner rather than later.

Indeed, Mbappe had two goals chalked off against the Bundesliga title holders on Tuesday - both for offside - and will be champing at the bit to put things right at the Allianz Arena on 8 March.

But for now, he and his PSG team-mates must work out how to overcome a Lille outfit on Sunday afternoon who have the league's joint second-highest scorer this season in their ranks, Jonathan David, while the likes of Manchester United academy graduate Angel Gomes, Jonathan Bamba and ex-Newcastle attacker Remy Cabella also carry a serious threat.

PSG can draw comfort from the fact that their last two meetings with Lille resulted in 7-1 and 5-1 thumpings, but given the disarray currently pervading Christophe Galtier's squad, a similarly handsome scoreline looks unlikely on this occasion, even in the familiar surroundings of the Parc des Princes.

Jonathan David has scored 14 Ligue 1 goals this season - second only to Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun

Antonetti answers Strasbourg's SOS call

Strasbourg's Ligue 1 status is hanging in the balance as they sit 17th, something that would have been unthinkable at the end of the last campaign.

Back then, Julien Stephan had guided the team to sixth, the Alsace outfit's highest finish for 42 years.

However, the vibrant attack and solid defence that were the cornerstones of that success have crumbled this term as Stephan was dismissed last month, with Mathieu Le Scornet taking the helm on an interim basis in his place.

Le Racing have conceded 41 times already in the league in 2022/23 - only two fewer than in the whole of the previous campaign - while Ludovic Ajorque and Adrien Thomasson, two players who were primarily responsible for the team's attacking prowess under Stephan, also departed last month having failed to hit the heights of 2021/22.

Now, the club's board have decided to appoint Frederic Antonetti as manager on an 18-month deal in an attempt to guide the team out of trouble.

Antonetti's coaching career spans more than 30 years and includes spells at Bastia, Saint-Etienne, Nice, Rennes, Lille and Metz.

The former midfielder has previous experience of steering a team away from danger, having done so most obviously with Lille in 2015/16.

However, should relegation occur, Antonetti showed at Metz that he is also capable of achieving promotion at the first time of asking (although his second spell at Stade Saint-Symphorien ended sourly last June as he was sacked following relegation back to Ligue 2).

Antonetti's first game in charge seems very winnable as bottom club Angers travel to Stade de la Meinau.

That being said, Angers do come into the fixture with their tails slightly up after successive league draws, which followed a run of 13 straight losses, the worst streak in Ligue 1 history.

Abdel Bouhazama's men also have last month's Coupe de France win at Strasbourg to use as inspiration, with a 0-0 draw preceding a 5-4 penalty-shootout triumph.

Frederic Antonetti is back in management having been sacked by Metz following their relegation from Ligue 1 last season

Marseille face tough Toulouse test

Marseille hauled themselves firmly back into title contention with a comfortable 2-0 win at Clermont, which came courtesy of a double from Alexis Sanchez.

The Chilean is L'OM's top scorer since his move from Inter last summer, sitting on nine league goals and 13 in all competitions prior to this weekend's meeting at Toulouse.

At the other end of the pitch, the return of Eric Bailly in their last outing after a seven-match suspension for a wild challenge in a Coupe de France game is invaluable for Igor Tudor.

The Croatian will need his squad switched on as they visit a Toulouse side who have been one of the league's most entertaining teams since achieving promotion back to the top flight last season.

Philippe Montanier's men put Rennes to the sword in their most recent match with three goals in 10 first-half minutes, each coming courtesy of fast breaks upfield as sprightly Morocco international Zakaria Aboukhlal stood out with a goal and an assist.

Indeed, five players in the squad, including Aboukhlal, have at least seven Ligue 1 goal involvements this term, more than any other outfit in the division.

Le Tefece have taken 16 of the last 21 points on offer, so won't be fazed when Tudor's side arrive at Stadium du Toulouse, with a win potentially nudging them into the top half after a tough start to the campaign.

Zakaria Aboukhlal and Fares Chaibi are two of the attackers who have excelled for Toulouse this season

Monaco wait for top-two slip-ups

Monaco's statement victory over Paris Saint-Germain has thrust them into the top three and the Champions League qualification places - and they will leapfrog Marseille into second if they beat Brest and L'OM are defeated by Toulouse.

Philippe Clement's men are one of only two Ligue 1 sides - along with PSG - to have scored more than 50 this season, with 22 of those coming in their past eight games.

Their 51 league goals have also come from 13 different goalscorers; only Marseille and Lille have had a greater variety of names on the scoresheet.

That attacking diversity was underlined perfectly at Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League on Thursday as Breel Embolo, Krepin Diatta and Axel Disasi all found the net in a seesaw encounter that ended 3-2 to the visitors.

However, Monaco's king in front of goal is Wissam Ben Yedder, who is now only trailing Folarin Balogun in the top scorers' list in France's top flight for 2022/23.

After his latest two strikes against PSG, the Tunisian will be expecting to add to his tally this weekend against Brest, whose unbeaten run under Eric Roy was resoundingly ended 3-0 by Montpellier last weekend.

Christophe Herelle's own goal on four minutes didn't help matters, before the centre-back's afternoon went from bad to worse midway through the first half as he fouled Elye Wahi to concede a penalty, with Teji Savanier converting from the spot.

Wahi made sure the points were sealed on 54 minutes, but Roy can have some faith in his men to improve their defensive performance this time round (and perhaps hope that their upcoming opponents will be somewhat fatigued).

After all, the Pirates have kept three league clean sheets since the start of the ex-Nice manager's tenure in early January - and only lost 1-0 in the reverse fixture against Monaco.

Brest's loss at Montpellier was the team's first league defeat under Eric Roy since he took charge on 3 January

Lens looking over their shoulder

Along with Marseille, Lens looked set to be the main challengers to Paris Saint-Germain just a few weeks ago, but two points from their last four games has put the buffers on the Blood and Gold's title charge, while key attackers Alexis Claude-Maurice and Wesley Said were struck down by injury earlier this month and won't be back until late March.

The latest disappointing result was a 2-1 loss at Lyon, with the main positive for Franck Haise coming when Deiver Machado rifled in a stunning equaliser at Groupama Stadium, only for Rayan Cherki to slam home the winner.

Lens, now fourth behind Monaco after that result, next face a Nantes side who have taken 10 points from the last 15 on offer, including back-to-back wins against Ajaccio and Lorient.

La Maison Jaune are managed by Antoine Kombouare, who spent three years at Lens between 2013 and 2016 as he led the Pas-de-Calais outfit to promotion during his first campaign in charge before suffering instant relegation the following season.

Kombouare has been at Nantes since February 2021 and after helping them survive by the skin of their teeth that season, the team made great strides last term, finishing ninth and winning the Coupe de France, a trophy they are on course to defend.

This season has been more of a struggle in Ligue 1, but the recent upturn in form means they are now 10 points clear of the bottom four and possess the league's meanest defence so far in 2023, with just two conceded (both against Marseille).

Kombouare's charges also recorded one of the most impressive results in the club's recent history on Thursday by coming from behind to draw at Juventus in the first leg of their Europa League knockout play-off, Ludovic Blas rounding off a rapid counter-attack with a stonking finish to follow on from his winner against Lorient.

Providing Nantes legs aren't too sore after their Italy exertions, this should be a very competitive contest at Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Sunday evening.