Paris Saint-Germain and Toulouse meet for the second time in three days when the pair face each other in the Coupe de France round of 32 at Parc des Princes on Tuesday.

With a Coupe de la Ligue semi-final to come, this encounter is the second of three between the two clubs in the space of just 11 days.

Date: Tuesday, January 19

Time: 9:00 p.m. CET (8:00 p.m. GMT/3:00 p.m. EST)

Venue: Parc des Princes, Paris

TV Info: Eurosport (France) and beIN Sports/beIN Sports Ñ (USA)

Live Stream: beIN Sports Connect

 

Preamble

PSG and Toulouse met as recently last Saturday in Ligue 1, but they will face each other on the pitch again on Tuesday—this time in the Coupe de France.

The Ligue 1 leaders won 1-0 at Stadium Municipal last weekend, but Dominique Arribage’s men gave Les Parisiens’ heavily rotated side a stern test.

Laurent Blanc’s team will be expected to advance to the round of 16, but with Le President likely to field a weakened starting XI, Le Tefece will fancy their chances of springing a surprise in Paris.

PSG are the current holders of the Coupe de France, but Blanc has made it clear that the competition will not be a major priority for his players this season.

With this in mind, TFC may well be targeting this meeting as the most winnable out of the pair’s January trilogy.

 

Form Lines (all competitions)

PSG

W 0-1 vs. Inter Milan (Friendly)

W 0-1 vs. ES Wasquehal (Coupe de France)

W 2-0 vs. SC Bastia (Ligue 1)

W 2-1 vs. Olympique Lyonnais (Coupe de la Ligue)

W 0-1 vs. Toulouse (Ligue 1)

Toulouse

D 1-1 vs. Lille OSC (Ligue 1)

W 0-5 vs. Entente Sannois Saint-Gratien (Coupe de France)

W 1-3 vs. Stade de Reims (Ligue 1)

W 2-1 (AET) vs. Olympique de Marseille (Coupe de la Ligue)

L 0-1 vs. PSG (Ligue 1)

 

Predicted Formations

PSG (4-3-3): Sirigu; Van der Wiel, Aurier, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Stambouli, Verratti, Rabiot; Lavezzi, Ibrahimovic (c), Cavani.

Toulouse (4-4-2): Lafont; Tisserand, Spajic, Diop, Matheus; Doumbia, Somalia, Akpa-Akpro (c), Trejo; Braithwaite, Ben Yedder.

 

Player to Watch Per Side

PSG got a good look at Toulouse’s danger man, Wissam Ben Yedder, when the pair met last Saturday. The French champions may well have won at Stadium Municipal, but the 25-year-old caused them plenty of problems in defence.

The Frenchman has 10 goals from his last 10 appearances across all competitions, and he will be trying to keep his current hot streak of form going in the capital on Tuesday.

As for PSG, Edinson Cavani will be the hosts’ player to watch. After a number of poor performances and complaints about his attitude, the Uruguay international has been dropped by Blanc for the last few games and needs to prove a point.

El Matador started on the bench for the 1-0 win over Toulouse over the weekend, but he was introduced after 18 minutes because of Javier Pastore’s injury.

Cavani failed to impress—again—so badly needs a good performance in front of goal to get some of his critics, not to mention the PSG fans, off his back.

 

Key Battle

If Toulouse can replicate their performance from last Saturday at Parc des Princes on Tuesday, then the big question will be whether or not they can penetrate PSG’s defence.

With Thiago Silva expected to be back from injury—although only on the bench—Marquinhos rested after suffering a knock over the weekend and David Luiz struggling with discomfort in his back, young Presnel Kimpembe should start for the hosts.

It could be a huge chance for the 20-year-old to impress, but equally, Toulouse’s Ben Yedder and Martin Braithwaite will see it as a chance for them to exploit a weaker than usual PSG back line and secure a surprise win for Le Tefece.

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