Les Parisiens are preparing for a tough encounter away to a Rennes side who gave a good account of themselves last season. Rennes won this fixture 3-1 last campaign, a result which was pivotal in confirming Les Rennais' place in Europe. Rennes have been a mixed bag in pre-season. In their six pre-season games, they have won twice, drawn three times and lost once.
PSG played a couple of pre-season games against Mallorca (3-0 defeat) and Man United (1-1 draw) before competitive matches against Aston Villa (2-1 win) in the UEFA Super Cup and Lens (1-0 defeat) in the Trophée des Champions final.
Preseason results won't concern Luis Enrique because most of his side returned to training late following their exploits at the World Cup. Despite this, the French champions should not be too complacent this upcoming season, as teams will be more eager to beat them after they retained the Champions League last season. It is rather unfortunate that this fixture had to be moved from Parc des Princes after the French champions' pitch was damaged by heat.
Here is our preview of Rennes vs PSG in matchday 1 of the Ligue 1 season.
Rennes vs PSG : Preview, prediction & lineups
When is the kick-off? Sunday, 23rd August.
Where is it played? Roazhon Park.
What time is kick-off? 7:45 pm (UK) and 2:45 pm (USA).
How to watch Rennes vs PSG? Amazon Prime PPV and Ligue 1+ (UK) and beIN SPORTS (USA).
Paris Saint-Germain team news:
Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye weren't on the team sheet against Lens which indicates that Luis Enrique wants to sell them. It remains to be seen whether Enrique will give Ferran Torres a start in this encounter as he has not had a preseason following his exploits at the World Cup. Lucas Digne will start at left back as Nuno Mendes is suspended.
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Safonov; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Digne; Zaire-Emery, Vitinha, Fernandez; Doué, Dembélé, Kvaratskhelia.
Rennes team news:
Breel Embolo will not start as he is closing in on a move to the MLS. This is far from ideal for Franck Haise's side as it will increase the goalscoring burden on Esteban Lepaul.
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Samba; Frankowski, Boudlal, Cresswell, Merlin; Rongier; Al-Taamari, Blas, Thomasson, Soumare; Lepaul.
Prediction: Rennes 1-1 PSG
It is hard to imagine PSG having a great start as most of their players have not had a full preseason because of their exploits in the World Cup. This is a complete contrast to Rennes who have played more preseason games and have had less players at the tournament.
