French Super Cup Lille vs. Paris Saint-Germain: Preview and betting tips

Lille and Paris Saint-Germain will face each other in a direct battle to win the first trophy of the 2021/22 season. They will clash in the 45th edition of the Trophée des champions, or French Super Cup, on Sunday at 8pm.

The former, billed as the home team (although the duel will be played to popularise French football in Tel Aviv, Israel), will go into it as the reigning champions. Lille surprisingly dominated the last edition of Ligue 1, beating even PSG by just one point.

The latter earned its gate at Bloomfield Stadium by winning the Coupe de France (French Cup), beating Monaco 2-0 in the final this May. The match will also feature the winner of each of the last eight Super Cups. The last one was won thanks to a 2-1 win over Olympique Marseille.

In terms of player arrivals and departures, the team from the very north of France is much worse off. After a stunning title season, the club sold several players, including last year’s mainstays Boubakar Soumaré (for 20 million euros to Leicester) and Mike Maignan (for 13 million euros to AC Milan).

Meanwhile, Lille have not brought in any replacements yet, so Jocelyn Gourvennec’s squad is in pretty bad shape even before the start of the season. Out of five preliminary matches, they have won only one – against a team relegated from the top Belgian competition.

In return, the Parisians have been strengthening like mad and have no competition across Europe in this transfer window. They have expanded their ranks with fresh Italian international Hakimi, experienced midfielder Wijnaldum, four-time Champions League winner Ramos and this year’s Euro MVP Donnarumma.

Still, they will send a significantly weakened squad to Tel Aviv. It will be missing Neymar, Marquinhos, Di María, Paredes, Donnarumma, Verratti, Sarabia, Bernat, Ramos, Rafinha and Dagba. PSG are expected to bring in young players who have completed their summer training with the A-team.

“They had a lot of time to prove themselves, which they did. Some of these youngsters from the academy are very good and have tremendous potential,” highlighted head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

“We want to win every competition. A lot of players won’t be able to play, but that’s no excuse. We are Paris Saint-Germain, we want to win and we will do everything to do so,” added the 49-year-old Argentine.