Paris Saint-Germain winger Lucas Moura. (Photo : Getty Images)
Middling club Stade Malherbe Caen (2-2-0, 6 points) is set to square off with struggling defending champions Paris Saint-Germain (2-1-1, 7 points) at the Stade Michel d'Ornano on Sep. 16, Friday to open the week 5 competitions of the 2016-2017 Ligue 1 season.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 2:45 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
Caen, last season's seventh place finishers, had a mercurial start to the season as they alternated wins and losses in their first four games.
After winning their season-opener over bottom-dwellers Lorient, 3-2, they were defeated by Lyon on the road, 0-2, during their second game. The team then beat Bastia, 2-0, at home before succumbing to another road defeat in the hands of Rennes, 0-2, last Sunday at the Stade de la Route de Lorient, via SkySports.
Following a goalless first half, forward Wesley Said and midfielder Sanjin Prcic scored a goal each at the 47th minute and in stoppage time respectively to hand head coach Patrice Garande's squad their second loss this season.
The loss was also their second shutout defeat in as many games as Caen is now settled at the 10th spot of the 20-team league table. They are tied on points with Lyon and Bastia but has a lesser goal difference.
Meanwhile, four straight defending champions Paris Saint-Germain is definitely feeling the loss of its former head coach and some of its key players from their championship teams in the past few seasons as the team had gone through a two-game winless slide after winning their first two games of this term.
Les Parisiens are currently at the seventh place in the overall standings, tied on points with Rennes but has a lesser goal difference as well.
New head coach Unai Emery managed to lead his team to a 1-1 draw with contending team AS Saint-Etienne at their home turf of Parc des Princes last Friday, as per ESPN.
It was actually a comeback game from the 1-3 road defeat to current league leaders Monaco during the previous week.
The first goal of the contest was not scored until the 67th minute with a penalty shot from Brazilian winger Lucas Moura. Etienne equalized the game during injury time with a goal from Robert Beric off a Kevin Malcuit cross.
PSG is favored to win this match against the Caen as the latter is still inconsistent at this stage of the season.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a 2-0 romp for Paris Saint-Germain.
Caen starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Vercoutre; Genevois, Da Silva, Youssef, Bessat; Seube; Karamoh, Feret, Malbranque, Rodelin; Santini
Paris Saint-Germain starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Trapp; Meunier, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Verratti, Motta, Matuidi; Arfa, Jese, Moura
