French champions Paris Saint-Germain kick off 2016 and their Coupe de France title defence with a trip north to take on amateurs ES Wasquehal of CFA A (French football’s fourth tier) in the round of 64.

 

Date: Sunday, January 3

Time: 2:15 p.m. CET (1:15 p.m. GMT)/7:15 a.m. EST

Venue: Stadium Lille Metropole, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France

TV Info: Eurosport/France 3 (France—2:15 p.m. CET), beIN Sports (USA—7:10 a.m. EST)

Live Stream: beIN Sports Connect

 

Preamble:

After a 1-0 friendly win over Inter Milan in Doha to end 2015, PSG return to domestic action in the Coupe de France away at Wasquehal.

Laurent Blanc’s men boast a 19-point at the top of Ligue 1 after a 3-0 win away at SM Caen in the final league game of 2015, and the runaway leaders of Le Championnat are on a run of 28 domestic games unbeaten.

As for Wasquehal, the northerners are one of three teams vying for promotion from CFA A and are tied on 39 points with Poissy AS and Entente Sannois-Saint-Gratien.

Carlos Da Cruz’s men were leading the way until draws against US Quevilly Rouen Metropole and Sannois-Saint-Gratien pegged them back in the race for top spot.

To set up their glamour tie against PSG, Wasquehal had to see off FC Metz 2-1 at their regular home venue of Stade Henri Seigneur, and the minnows are not new to producing cup shocks.

Wasquehal were a professional outfit between 1997 and 2004, and in that time they reached the last 16 twice and eliminated the likes of AS Monaco, EA Guingamp, ESTAC Troyes and AJ Auxerre. Metz were added to that list after December’s upset.

Recently promoted from CFA 2, Da Cruz’s men will know some of PSG’s players well from their battles in CFA this season. Les Parisiens’ reserve team occupies the same division, and Wasquehal beat the boys from the capital in the opening game of the campaign.

 

Form Lines (all competitions):

Wasquehal

W 4-2 vs. US Roye Noyon (CFA A)

W 1-2 vs. FC Mantois 78 (CFA A)

W 2-1 vs. Metz (Coupe de France 8th round)

D 0-0 vs. Quevilly (CFA A)

D 1-1 vs. Sannois-Saint-Gratien (CFA A)

 

PSG

W 2-0 vs. Shakhtar Donetsk (UEFA Champions League)

W 5-1 vs. Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1)

W 1-0 vs. AS Saint-Etienne (Coupe de la Ligue round of 16)

W 0-3 vs. Caen (Ligue 1)

W 0-1 vs. Inter Milan (Friendly)

 

Predicted Formations

Wasquehal: Samson, Qrita, Goret, Fernandes, Bendaoud, Loore, Sadsaoud, Tekendo, Diakite, Souga, Lefrancois.

PSG (4-3-3): Sirigu; Van der Wiel, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Stambouli, Pastore, Rabiot; Lucas, Ibrahimovic, Augustin.

 

Player to Watch Per Side

Anybody watching and scanning through the Wasquehal team will immediately be drawn to midfielder Geoffrey Cabaye. The 26-year-old is Yohan’s younger brother and the two also look very similar.

Although not certain that he will start, Cabaye will be one for viewers to keep an eye on if he does come on. It is just a pity that his elder brother is not still with PSG, then it would have been a family affair.

Cabaye is yet to score for Wasquehal this season; Sunday would be the perfect time to chip in with a goal.

As for PSG, Jean-Kevin Augustin shone in the 1-0 friendly win over Inter Milan in Doha on Wednesday, and the 18-year-old should have done enough in Qatar to persuade Blanc to give him a chance from the start against Wasquehal.

The teenage sensation impressed in the majority of the French champions’ summer friendlies, and the young Frenchman also scored his first-ever Ligue 1 goal in the 4-1 win over Troyes last November.

If Augustin is given the nod against Wasquehal, he must seize the chance with both hands and replicate his clinical non-competitive form to earn more chances over the second half of the season.

 

Key Battle

Even though PSG may well rest all three of their regular starting midfielders, the battle between Wasquehal and Les Parisiens’ midfields will go a long way towards deciding the outcome of this game.

Whether it is Marco Verratti, Blaise Matuidi and Thiago Motta starting, or Benjamin Stambouli, Javier Pastore and Adrien Rabiot, the visitors will be expected to seize control of the game and dominate their hosts.

If the runaway Ligue 1 leaders are to do that, the midfield selected by Blanc will need to be authoritative. Wasquehal could be the latest proof that the magic of the cup is alive and well in the Coupe de France if PSG fail to do this.

 

Odds (Oddschecker)

Wasquehal: 22

PSG: 1/25

Draw: 16

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