Defending the isolated lead of group B of the Champions League of Europe season 2017/2018, Paris Saint-Germain visits the Anderlecht this Wednesday, October 18. The match is part of the schedule of the third and final round of the group stage. It will be held from 16:45 (Brasília time) at the Constant Vanden Stock stadium in Anderlecht, Belgium.
The French added up the six possible points in the first two rounds. Bayern Munich and Celtic, with three points, split second and will face each other at the same time in Germany. The Belgians, still without scoring, are in the flashlight.
Anderlecht’s recent performance
In a group that have PSG and Bayern as favorites posted to the two berths in the knockout stage of the Champions League, Anderlecht have a parallel dispute with Celtic for the third place, which would give the right to participate in the Europa League in the second half of the season.
As they lost 3-0 at home in the first leg of their first-leg knockout, the Belgian side will need to start a surprise against PSG or Bayern in order not to need a win in Scotland game back.
However, not even his campaign in the Jupiler League, the Belgian Championship, is able to excite his fans. The team even managed to beat Mechelen, away from home, on Friday, October 13, by 4 to 3. But it continues in a modest position. It occupies the fifth place with 18 points (five victories, three draws and two defeats). They are nine fewer than Brugge, leader.
Under control of Hein Vanhaezebrouck, Anderlecht have an important doubt for Wednesday’s game. Croatian defender Uros Spajic (eight goals in the 2017/2018 Belgian Championship, one goal), the absolute starter of the team, suffered an ankle injury that took him out of the last two matches. It depends on a new evaluation to know if it can be available to the coach. Also in the infirmary is midfielder Andy Najar (a game, no goal).
The current form of PSG
With virtually the entire team worn out to serve their national team qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, PSG needed a player who can not be considered as a first-rate star to confirm their favoritism and defeat Dijon away from home, on Saturday, October 14, in a match for the ninth round of Ligue 1.
Meunier scored the goals of the Paris team in a 2-1 victory. The decisive goal was signaled already in the additions of the final stage showing that the team suffered with inadequate preparation for the duel. However, he managed enough to further increase his lead in the 2017/2018 French Championship.
Has 25 points (eight wins and one draw). They are six more than the Monaco, vice-leader. Although the tournament is at the beginning, it is not difficult to say that it is not a question of whether PSG will get the title, but rather when it will put another cup in its collection.
This great advantage will certainly be reflected in the Champions League. After all, with the slack in the local tournament, the team can devote more intensely to the attempt to win the title that is considered an obsession by its leaders. In this walk, securing the first place of the key and, at least in theory, avoiding a more difficult confrontation in the round of 16 is an important goal.
To face Anderlecht, coach Unay Emery may not be able to rely on striker Edinson Cavani (eight games in the 2017/2018 Ligue 1 season, a goal). He came back injured after serving the Uruguayan team and was out of the game against Dijon. The club did not reveal the seriousness of their injury. Thus, it is not known whether he will be able to work in Belgium.
It is not the only medical problem. They are in treatment of injury the defender Thiago Silva (five games, without goal), another that was hurt in the dispute of the South American qualifiers by the Brazilian selection; and Thiago Motta (seven games, one goal) and Marco Verratti (five games, no goal).
History of the bouts between Anderlecht and PSG
The teams have had only three confrontations throughout history. The first was a friendly held in 2011. Finished in Belgian win by 1 to 0. The other two were in the Champions League season 2013/2014. For the group stage, the PSG thrashed 5-0 at the home of the rival and in their domains, tied for 1 to 1.
PREDICTION: PSG WIN @ 1.16
