Paris Saint-Germain vs FC Nantes LIVE Football Score 31 Jul 2022
Match Info
About the match
Paris Saint-Germain is going head to head with FC Nantes starting on 31 Jul 2022 at 18:00 UTC at Bloomfield stadium, Tel Aviv city, Israel. The match is a part of the Trophée des Champions.
Prediction and winning odds
The first trophy of the French football season is up for grabs on Sunday as Paris Saint-Germain take on Nantes in the Trophee des Champions at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv.
Les Parisiens stormed to the Ligue 1 title in the 2021-22 season, but Nantes marked their meteoric rise from the doldrums with glory in the Coupe de France.
Not even a Ligue 1 title could save Mauricio Pochettino’s bacon at the Parc des Princes, as despite ending Lille’s short-lived reign of dominance at the top of the French game, the Argentine was given his marching orders by the trigger-happy board.
After failing in their efforts to bring Zinedine Zidane to the club, PSG elected to hire the man who pipped them to the 2020-21 Ligue 1 title with Lille, and Christophe Galtier’s impact in the hotseat has been immediately felt.
Les Parisiens undertook their pre-season tour in Japan and posted three consecutive victories against Kawasaki Frontale, Urawa Red Diamonds and Gamba Osaka, as well as a straightforward 2-0 training ground victory over Quevilly-Rouen.
Former Nice and Saint-Etienne head coach Galtier has been experimenting with a 3-4-1-2 setup in pre-season in a bid to finally end PSG’s spate of humiliating Champions League exits, and the star-studded attack of Les Parisiens have enjoyed the new system so far with 13 goals in four pre-season games.
Nordi Mukiele, Hugo Ekitike and Vitinha’s arrivals signify that new football advisor Luis Campos is already planning for the future, and winning an eighth Trophee des Champions since 2013 would be an ideal way for Galtier to kick-start his PSG career.
Nantes head coach Antoine Kombouare has already been there and done it all before in the PSG dugout, but the former Parisiens boss is currently making waves with Nantes, who added the 2021-22 Coupe de France to their trophy collection last term.
After PSG’s defence of the crown was ended by Nice, Nantes managed to get the better of the Galtier-led Aiglons in the final, with a 47th-minute Ludovic Blas penalty enough to propel Les Canaris to victory at the Stade de France.
At the end of the 2020-21 season, Nantes were forced to salvage their Ligue 1 status in the promotion/relegation playoffs, but last term, Kombouare steadied the ship and led his outfit to a ninth-placed finish in the top flight, while their Coupe de France crown also earned them a place in the Europa League.
A mixed bag of pre-season results has seen Nantes lose to Guingamp and Rennes while beating Caen and Lorient, and Les Canaris only have two Trophee des Champions successes to their name, winning the 1999 and 2001 editions.
Furthermore, Nantes have proven to be a bogey team for PSG in recent times, as Les Canaris have won two of their last three Ligue 1 clashes with the reigning champions, but Galtier will be out for a slice of personal revenge after Kombouare got one over him in the Coupe de France last year.
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Kimpembe, Ramos, Marquinhos; Hakimi, Verratti, Vitinha, Mendes; Messi; Icardi, Neymar
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Castelletto, Pallois, Girotto; Corchia, Sissoko, Moutousammy, Merlin; Blas, Simon; Mohamed