Paris Saint-Germain will look to preserve their perfect start to their Champions League title defence when they visit Villarreal on Tuesday night, with Luis Enrique’s side targeting a fourth straight victory.
Having conquered the continent in each of the last two seasons, the Parisians already look likely to be in the mix when next year’s final is played at the Estadio Metropolitano.
PSG kicked off their campaign by sweeping aside Slovan Bratislava 6-1 before claiming a pair of statement 4-2 wins, away at Manchester City and then at home to Barcelona.
That form has carried over to Ligue 1, where Enrique’s star-studded side sit top after making it six wins in a row with a 5-1 hammering of Le Havre at the weekend.
That spells trouble for Villarreal, who have already lost to both Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool across the opening three matchdays, although they did claim an eye-catching 3-1 win at home to Napoli.
The Yellow Submarine’s preparations for this clash were far from ideal, as they slumped to a 1-0 home defeat to Espanyol at the weekend, their fifth loss in 11 La Liga games this season.
How the bookies view it: Another three points for PSG
The pre-match odds point towards PSG getting the job done on Tuesday night, with bet365 making the reigning European champions 4/7 favourites.
Villarreal are as big as 4/1 to spring a surprise, while the draw is priced at 7/2.
Head to head: First-ever competitive clash
Somewhat surprisingly, Villarreal and PSG have never met in competitive action, making Tuesday’s clash their first official encounter.
Their only previous meeting was a friendly fixture way back in February 2001, when PSG claimed a 2-1 victory at El Madrigal. A repeat of that scoreline on Tuesday night is available at 8/1 with bet365.
Players to watch: Doue to deliver?
After scoring and assisting in each of PSG’s wins over Manchester City and Barcelona, Desire Doue looks good value to register another goal involvement against Villarreal at 8/11 with bet365.
Georges Mikautadze has already scored against Napoli and Liverpool this season, and Villarreal will look to him for inspiration again on Tuesday night. The Georgian forward is 13/8 to find the net for a third Champions League match in a row.
Predicted line-ups
Gerard Moreno is a major doubt for Villarreal after being forced off during Saturday’s defeat to Espanyol. Ilias Akhomach and Nathan Saliba are also expected to miss out, although Pape Gueye is back in contention after serving a domestic suspension at the weekend.
PSG remain without Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who is sidelined for the rest of the season, while Ousmane Dembele is also set to miss Tuesday’s trip to Spain. The visitors' defensive absences could include Marquinhos and Nuno Mendes, who are both expected to be unavailable.
Villarreal: Gulacsi; Mourino, Navarro, Veiga, Cardona; Gueye, Comesana; Buchanan, Pepe, Moleiro; Mikautadze.
PSG: Safonov; Hakimi, Zabarnyi, Pacho, Hernandez; Neves, Vitinha, Ruiz; Akliouche, Torres, Doue.
Anything else catch the eye?
PSG look too short to back as a single selection at the aforementioned odds, but combining them with over 2.5 goals lifts the price to a more appealing 20/23 with bet365.
This combination has landed in each of the Parisians’ three Champions League wins this season, as well as four of their last five Ligue 1 victories.
Given Villarreal have already lost 3-2 to Borussia Dortmund and 4-3 to Liverpool in this season’s Champions League, PSG to win with BTTS is another option worth considering at 7/5 with bet365.
GambleAware