OUR man in France is Julien Laurens and he's looking at the French League Cup Final on Saturday between PSG and Monaco.
Julien is a London-based sports correspondent for Le Parisien and a veritable French football expert. He writes in French and English for a number of esteemed publications and is a regular on BT Sport as well as contributing to Unibet.
PSG v Monaco (Sat 8.05pm)
Paris and Monaco face each other on Saturday evening in Bordeaux in the League Cup final. This is the first domestic trophy of the season in France and the two best teams in the country are competing for it. It will be a fantastic game and is a repeat of last season’s League Cup final, where Paris thrashed Monaco. Monaco want their revenge but Paris want to retain their trophy for a fifth year in a row.
The Parisians have an incredible record in the competition and with the league title pretty much in the bag already, they want to achieve another domestic treble.
For this game, manager Unai Emery, who leaves at the end of the season, will be without Neymar. Angel Di Maria is a doubt after picking up an injury while on international duty with Argentina but Emery is still hoping he could be fit.
Everyone else is ready to play, so it will be a very strong starting eleven for Paris. They already beat Monaco twice this season, the French Super Cup and in the league in Monaco. They expect a tough game but are confident they can still beat them. Domestically, they haven’t lost since January against Lyon.
Monaco know they have lost their French league title to PSG this season and they are also out of the French Cup, so this is their only chance for silverware this season. They are determined to win something, so they will put everything they have into this game. They want their revenge after last season’s defeat in the same game.
Manager Leonardo Jardim has most of his players available. He will set up his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Thomas Lemar in the number 10 role behind Radamel Falcao, who is back to full fitness and even scored against France with Columbia last week in a friendly.
Monaco will try to play on the counter and catch Paris on the break. They have not lost any of their last 15 league matches (10 wins and 5 draws) and feel really strong. However, I think it will be a draw after the 90 minutes and that PSG will win on penalties!
Julien's Tips
- PSG 2, Monaco 2 (after 90 mins, 12-1, Unibet)
- Cavani to score first (57-20, Unibet)
- Draw and btts (9-2, Unibet)
