Preview: AS Monaco vs. Paris Saint-Germain

Two sides with unbeaten records in Ligue 1 this season will go head to head at Stade Louis II this weekend when Paris Saint-Germain travel to AS Monaco.

The reigning French champions sit at the top of the table with wins in all three of their matches so far, while the hosts have five points from a possible nine.

---

AS Monaco

© Getty Images

AS Monaco have had a busy start to the season, attempting to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League campaign, while also trying to keep pace with the reigning French champions.

Despite a 2-1 win over Valencia in the second leg of their Champions League playoff, the Spanish side did enough to knock Leonardo Jardim's men out, resulting in the club dropping into the Europa League, where they will face Anderlecht, Tottenham Hotspur and FK Qarabag.

Monaco started the league campaign well, beating Nice 2-1 in their opening fixture, but have since been held to draws by Lille and Toulouse.

This weekend's hosts had the best defence in the league last season, keeping 20 clean sheets, seven more than PSG, while conceding just 26 goals.

There could still be plenty of transfer activity to come for the principality side, who completed a deal for Manchester City striker Marcos Lopes earlier today. Anthony Martial has been linked with a move to Barcelona, while PSG completed a deal for Layvin Kurzawa this week.

The team have already brought in plenty of new faces this summer though, including loan signings Stephan El Shaarawy, Fabio Coentrao and Helder Costa.

Recent form: LWWWDD
Recent form (all competitions): WWDLDW

---

Paris Saint-Germain

© Getty Images

Paris Saint-Germain have been in clinical form at the start of the 2015-16 Ligue 1 season, winning their first three matches of the year without conceding a single goal.

The defending champions followed up wins of Lille and Ajaccio with a narrow 1-0 victory in their trip to Montpellier last weekend, leaving them as the only side in the French top flight with a 100% record.

PSG also won their final nine fixtures in Ligue 1 last season, leaving them with victories in their last 12 matches in the league. They have not been beaten since March, when Bordeaux secured a narrow 3-2 win over the champions.

Unlike Monaco, PSG have not had the distraction of Champions League qualification at the start of the season, going straight into the group stage. At this week's draw, which took place in Monaco, PSG were placed in a group with Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk and Malmo.

Laurent Blanc has confirmed that his side has finalised a deal with Monaco's Kurzawa this week, but they missed out on a loan deal for Real Madrid's Coentrao, who joined Monaco earlier this week.

There could still be departures from Parc des Princes, as Edinson Cavani continues to be linked with amove to the Premier League, despite Arsenal insisting that they are not interested in the Uruguayan.

Recent form: WWWWWW
Recent form (all competitions): LWWWWW

---

Team News

© Getty Images

PSG are likely to be without Javier Pastore after he picked up an ankle injury in last week's win over Montpellier, exiting early in the 1-0 victory.

Summer signing Angel di Maria and last season's top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic are both fit enough to be included in the squad though, having recovered from hamstring and knee injuries respectively.

Layvin Kurzawa was unable to play the second leg of Monaco's tie against Valencia with an ankle injury, although his move to PSG was announced later that evening, so he is likely to miss an immediate return to Stade Louis II.

Monaco's only injury concern is Joao Moutinho, as the midfielder is still sidelined after injuring his ankle in their second match of the campaign, which will keep him out until the end of September.

AS Monaco possible starting lineup:
Subasic, Wallace, Raggi, Toullalan, Toure, Bahlouli, Lemar, Bakayoko, Traore, El Shaarawy, Carrillo

Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Trapp, Silva, Maxwell, Aurier, Luiz, Motta, Matuidi, Di Maria, Lavezzi, Ibrahimovic, Cavani

---

Head To Head

The two sides last met in the Coupe de France in March, where Paris Saint-Germain came away with a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from David Luiz and Edinson Cavani.

That result ended a run of seven straight draws between the two sides, dating back to 2010, which included both of last season's league meetings between the two clubs.

Matches between the two sides are often closely contested, with only two of their 41 previous meetings resulting in a greater than two-goal winning margin.

Monaco have beaten PSG 17 times previously, while the current champions have just 10 wins against this weekend's opponents, as well as 14 draws.

Monaco vs. PSG: Team News, Predicted Line-Ups

AS Monaco welcome Paris Saint-Germain to the principality in the first meeting between two of the teams expected to be vying for the Ligue 1 title at the end of the season

The French champions are already four points clear of Les Monegasques in the early table thanks to a strong start to the domestic term, and Leonardo Jardim's men are already out of the UEFA Champions League and into the UEFA Europa League after a mixed start.

The hosts could do with a win Sunday to prevent PSG from opening up a sizable advantage over their expected title rivals inside of the first month of the season.

Lionel Cironneau/Associated Press

Date: Sunday, August 30

Time: 8 p.m. BST (9 p.m. CEST)/3 p.m. EDT

Venue: Stade Louis II, Monaco

TV Info: beIN Sports 1 (France), BT Sport Europe (starts 9 p.m. BST one hour after kick-off), beIN Sports (USA at 3 p.m. EDT)

Live Stream: beIN Sports Connect

Lionel Cironneau/Associated Press

Preamble

PSG travel to Stade Louis II enjoying their best start to a Ligue 1 season since the 2005-06 campaign after last week's 1-0 win away at Montpellier confirmed three straight wins without conceding a single goal.

Laurent Blanc's men have an excellent opportunity to already strike a significant early blow in the race for the title by winning in the principality and moving seven points clear of Les Monegasques.

Jardim's outfit were very strong defensively in both outings against Les Parisiens last season and are yet to lose to the capital club in Ligue 1 since their return to the top flight back in 2013. PSG did beat a weakened ASM side 2-0 in the Coupe de France quarter-finals, though, and the champions will be targeting a similar result Sunday.

In terms of personnel, Monaco's squad is arguably as strong—if not stronger—than it was last season. However, the new group of players, which is still having elements added to it after the signings of Fabio Coentrao and Marcos Lopes, will take time to gel.

Judging by the pair of performances against Valencia, Jardim's men are not on the same page just yet, and they are not likely to be by the time PSG visit.

The principality outfit are out of the Champions League, but they still have the Europa League to play for, and they cannot dwell on their unlucky defeat across both legs to the Spaniards.

Jardim needs to get a response out of his team against PSG; otherwise, the Europa League and both domestic cups might be ASM's best chances of success this season.

The visitors are only missing Javier Pastore and new signing Layvin Kurzawa through injury, per PSG.fr, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Angel Di Maria are in the travelling party though.

Monaco are without the injured Nabil Dirar, according toasmonaco.com (in French), but otherwise have no major injury concerns.

Lionel Cironneau/Associated Press

Form Lines (all competitions):

Monaco

W 1-2 vs. OGC Nice (Ligue 1)

D 0-0 vs. Lille OSC (Ligue 1)

L 3-1 vs. Valencia (Champions League play-off)

D 1-1 vs. Toulouse (Ligue 1)

W 2-1 vs. Valencia (Champions League play-off)

PSG

W 2-0 vs. Olympique Lyonnais (Trophee des Champions)

W 0-1 vs. Lille (Ligue 1)

W 2-0 vs. Gazelec Ajaccio (Ligue 1)

W 0-1 vs. Montpellier HSC (Ligue 1)

Lionel Cironneau/Associated Press

Predicted Formations

Monaco (4-3-3): Subasic—Fabinho, Raggi, Carvalho, Echiejile—Toulalan (c), Pasalic, Silva—Lemar, Martial, Cavaleiro.

PSG (4-3-1-2): Trapp—Aurier, Silva (c), Luiz, Maxwell—Motta, Verratti, Matuidi—Lucas Moura/Di Maria—Ibrahimovic, Cavani.

Player to Watch Per Side

For Monaco, vibrant young striker Anthony Martial is the player to keep an eye on. The 19-year-old demonstrated why he is currently in such high demand in both Valencia encounters, and his pace could cause PSG some problems at the back.

The Frenchman scored a late equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Parc des Princes last season and will aim to trouble the champions' captain Thiago Silva and David Luiz.

FRANCK FIFE/Getty Images

If his ASM team-mates, notably the likes of the inventive Bernardo Silva, can feed him the ball as often as possible, Martial holds the key to unlocking the capital club's tight defence.

As for PSG, there is only one player whom everyone will have their eye on at Stade Louis II, and that is Angel Di Maria. The Argentina international is expected to feature in the squad and play some part in the principality this weekend, although probably not from the start.

El Fideo's potential debut is one of the main storylines coming into the clash, and PSG fans are keen to get their first glimpse of this summer's star signing in his new colours. If Di Maria features for Les Parisiens, he will be the player whom everybody's eyes are on as he takes his first steps with his new team.

VI-Images/Getty Images

Key Battle

The decisive battle in Monaco's clash with PSG will be that of veteran central defender Ricardo Carvalho against Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

With Aymen Abdennour now a Valencia player, per PA Sport (h/t ESPN FC), the Portugal international is an important member of Jardim's defensive plans.

LIONEL BONAVENTURE/Getty Images

However, with Ibrahimovic back in action for Les Parisiens and raring to go after an extended spell out with a knee issue, the battle between the pair could be decisive.

A combination of the Swede, Edinson Cavani and the likes of Di Maria, Lucas Moura or Ezequiel Lavezzi has the potential to rip apart a Monaco defence that is unsure of itself at present.

Carvalho and one of Andrea Raggi or Wallace will have to be at their absolute best to keep Ibrahimovic and his team-mates at bay.