PSG vs Man City Preview: xG, penalty box touches, shot maps and more – what do the stats say? | OneFootball

PSG will be hosting Pep Guardiola’s Man City at Le Parc des Princes on Matchday 2 of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League season. The French side did not have a great start to their UCL campaign after they came out with a 1-1 draw at Club Brugge on Matchday 1 in spite of Neymar, Mbappe and Messi all starting the match Manchester city had a much more positive start to their campaign with a 6-3 win at home over RB Leipzig.

Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG side have had a great record in their domestic league, winning of their opening eight games, and are currently sitting conine points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 standings. They have had an impressive attacking record scoring a total of 22 goals in the first eight games, with a total of nine different goal scorers. The big news is that Lionel Messi is yet to score for Les Parisiens and will be hoping to break his PSG duck at home against his former coach Pep Guardiola.

Man City have also had a decent start to life in the extremely competitive Premier League, having earned 13 points from the first six games. They are currently second in the standings, but are on equal points with Chelsea, Man Utd and Everton, and one point behind leaders Liverpool. They have only conceded one goal in the first six games, and have kept clean sheets in the last five league games. They did concede three goals against Leipzig, but were able to score six.

On Matchday 1 of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League campaign, Manchester City won 6-3 against RB Leipzig at the Etihad stadium and created an xG of 2.30 in the match. Meanwhile, PSG did not have a great game, as it was a 1-1 draw, with PSG only creating a decent xG of 1.42 in the match.

Manchester City had a much more impressive performance in comparison to PSG, as the Citizens had a total of 15 shots on goal, out of which seven were on target. On the other hand, the Paris side had just  8 attempts on goal with four on target and just one goal. Pep Guardiola’s side managed to score six goals with their seven shots on target.

In terms of touches in the opposition box, both teams had a similar amount of touches with 22 and 23. Man City have obviously been the more clinical side in the opening game week, as they had 23 touches in the box and six goals to show for it. PSG on the other hand had 22 touches in the box but just one goal.

The above viz is the shot map of Pep Guardiola’s side against Leipzig when they managed to score six goals in 15 attempts. One can notice that they have taken a large majority of their shots from the left side and inside the penalty box, with a few shots from the edge of the box as well. Guardiola does not allow them to take shots from very long range, and he was proven correct as his team scored all six goals from inside the penalty area.

Mauricio Pochettino has so far been unsuccessful to make full use of the huge superstars available at his disposal. He has tried players Mbappe, Messi and Neymar in a front three and also in a front four along with Angel Di Maria. till now, Mbappe has been getting goals for the club with four goals, but Neymar has just scored one goal so far this season and Lionel Messi is yet to open his scoring tally for the club. The Talisman Messi will not be available for the game against former coach Pep Guardiola, as it is doubtful he will make an appearance due to a knee injure.

The previous season’s finalists Man City will hope to once again have a long journey, as Guardiola will hope to once again reach the final, or the semi-finals at least. The Citizens have won everything available to them in the last decade, with only the UEFA Champions League title eluding them. It will be a challenge for them this season, and the game against PSG will be a great opportunity to prove to everyone that they are serious title contenders this season as well.

PSG’s Predicted Starting XI (4-3-3): GK: Gianluigi Donarumma, LB: Abdou Diallo, CB: Marquinhos, CB: Kimpembe, RB: Achraf Hakimi, LM: Georginio Wijnaldum, CM: Daniel Paredes, RM: Ander Herrera, LW: Neymar, CF: Kylian Mbappe, RW: Julian Draxler

Injuries: Di Maria(suspended), Messi, Verratti, Bernat, Sergio Ramos, Layvin Kurzawa.

Man City’s Predicted Starting XI(4-3-3): GK: Ederson, LB: Joao Cancelo, CB: John Stones, CB: Ruben Dias, RB: Kyle Walker, LM: Fernandinho, CM: Rodri, RM: Kevin De Bruyne, LW: Jack Grealish, ST: Ferran Torres, RW: Riyad Mahrez

Injuries: Zinchenko, Meny, Gundogan.