PSG vs Montpellier Prediction & Betting Tips (23 August)

Once again champion of France last year, PSG showed some progress in the Champions League by reaching the last four where they were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund, although within their reach. This summer, the capital club finally announced the departure of its star, Kylian Mbappé, who took over as manager of Real Madrid, and he will now have to move on. Little seen on the pitch during the summer preparation, the Ile-de-France residents only played 2 friendly matches, each time ending with a draw against Sturm Graz 2-2 and RB Leipzig 1-1. Last Friday, at the opening of this new Ligue 1 season, Luis Enrique's players were held in check for a long time by Le Havre before managing to gain the upper hand in the last minutes of the game 1-4 to offer themselves a first success. Montpellier, for its part, is clearly no longer one of the big teams in this championship and it may even have to struggle not to hang around the edges of the red zone.

Quite limited financially, the Hérault club would be quite happy to maintain itself as it did last year by finishing in 12th position in the ranking. During their summer preparation, Michel Der Zakarian's men did not display very good form, winning only one of their 6 friendly matches, against Martigues 2-1. La Paillade was then defeated by Mainz 3-1 before obtaining a point last week, during the first day, against Strasbourg 1-1.

🎙️ Luis Enrique: “We aim to compete for every title. Our hunger never stops.”

Following a victorious season opener in Le Havre, our Parisians are back at Parc des Princes this Friday. Our coach gives us an inside look at the PSG Campus, the Rouge et Bleu training ground. 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/EcxMvKkSKP

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) August 21, 2024

As mentioned above, PSG had to resolve to see Kylian Mbappé go to Real Madrid. Despite a rather disappointing season in terms of content, the captain of the Blues still scored 27 goals in Ligue 1 last year and we will now have to make up for this absence. He is not the only one to have left the capital club since his brother Ethan Mbappé (Lille), the undesirable Kurzawa, the goalkeepers Letellier, Navas and Rico and the young midfielder Michut have arrived at the end of their contract and they have not been renewed. In the opposite direction, the capital club offered itself the services of goalkeeper Safonov (Krasnodar), the very young Joao Neves (Benfica) and the Ecuadorian defender Pacho (Eintracht Frankfurt). More recently, it was the Rennes nugget Désiré Doué who arrived in the City of Lights while the Brazilian Gabriel Moscardo (Corinthians), purchased last year but loaned for 6 more months to his Brazilian club, is now part of the Parisian group . For this match, French internationals Lucas Hernandez and Kimpembe are still missing, both with long-term injuries. They were also joined in the infirmary by the unfortunate Gonçalo Ramos, victim of a broken ankle last week. Suspended during the trip to Le Havre, the Portuguese left back Nuno Mendes should find his place in the corridor. The attack line could be made up of the French internationals Barcola, Kolo-Muani and Dembélé who all opened their account last week.

On the MHSC side, the full-back Hefti (Genoa, return from loan), the winger Karamoh (Torino, return from loan), the potential starting midfielder Leroy (FC Basel) and the relatively little used Sacha Delaye (Lustenau, 9 appearances in L1 last year) left the club. The Pailladins, however, have not recorded any reinforcements for the moment. However, they can always count on their captain, Teji Savanier, who with 9 goals and 6 assists decisive last year, remains the conductor of this team. He also converted his penalty last week against Strasbourg. In addition to this, the Nigerian Adams (8 goals) and the Jordanian Al-Tamari (5 goals, 2 assists) and the formidable Arnaud Nordin (5 goals, 3 assists) are still at the club. Unsurprisingly, the starting central defender Jullien must still throw in the towel for this match along with Mincarelli, Sainte-Luce, Sylla and Fayad. On the other hand, the Aging Wahib Khazri is back after serving his suspension against Racing last week.