Angers SCO vs Paris Saint-Germain
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Angers SCO vs Paris Saint-Germain
My theory for this game is that it should be very entertaining. Angers SCO may not be much to look at tactically, but they’re brilliant at countering, especially since Boufal and Amadou joined. The former is still injured, but the latter is now back, and they’ve upset plenty of teams already this season. Why not Paris Saint-Germain too? A number of clubs have already beaten the reigning champions this season, and more will follow too, even with Pochettino at the helm, because they’re an inherently lazy team.
The capital club are quite obviously the better team here, and if they were to score five goals and win the game, nobody would be surprised. That’s the advantage of having such top-drawer individuals on their books. I always feel nervous in such games, though. Paris Saint-Germain are usually not interested in matching opponents when it comes to work-rate because they believe they should be too good for such to matter. Although I agree with the notion, the reality is seldom supportive of their stance.
I mean, what staggers me more than anything else about this Paris Saint-Germain side is how few goals they score on the break. When you think of Mbappe, di Maria, Icardi, Kean, and even Neymar, you think of exciting attacking play, skill, and speed. However, the capital club simply can’t be arsed to counterattack – that’s what I’ve observed about them over the past couple of years. The potential is quite clearly there, but there’s never enough bodies getting forward to punish teams on the break. It’s always playing on the front foot where they get their goals from, and fair enough – they expect most games to be played in such a manner. It’s just that that approach, and their unwillingness to change, is one of numerous things that consistently costs them in Europe.
Still, from open play, they should hurt Angers SCO a lot tonight. They’re all still out to impress new boss Pochettino (not that he’ll be there himself as he’s got Covid-19) so they’ve been rather sharp in attack. Their defence worries me, though. There’s seldom any cohesion, there’s no natural leader, and their full-backs are far better at attacking than defending. It’s getting easier to score against this team. I think that winning this game will actually require Paris Saint-Germain to score two or three, to be honest. They’re up against a good attack, and they’re certainly not in the habit of suppressing teams, the visitors.
I always feel like Angers SCO are at their best when teams go at them too. It’s an approach that’s fraught with danger for the western France outfit, given their almost complete inability to contain teams, but it’s an entertaining one that certainly allows them to strut their stuff in the final third. They’ve launched the careers of many good attackers in Ligue 1 during their time in it, not least that of Toko Ekambi at Olympique Lyonnais, and I believe it’s that style that allowed them to lure the likes of Boufal and Amadou to play for them this season. Diony too, as it goes, who is seeking to relaunch his career after a frustrating time at AS Saint-Etienne.
Even with Boufal injured and Alioui battling a serious illness, this team still carries a significant attacking threat. Club legend Bahoken has a habit of popping up with big goals for them, Lage is never far from a goal, Diony’s speed makes him a threat, and with so much energy in midfield for supporting the attacks, Angers SCO are never far away from threatening an opponent’s goal. They’ve been even better since getting Cabot as a winger too, who is such a clever player. Containing Angers SCO is really difficult nowadays, to be frank.
Should Paris Saint-Germain win this game? Absolutely. I don’t trust them to manage it though. I trust them to score, and to play lazily enough to concede, and that’s enough for me to back goals here, given the counterattacking capabilities of their hosts. Therefore, I’ll take my chances on backing over 3 goals at 19/20.
Verdict: Over 3 goals at 19/20.
Saturday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Australian A-League:
Sydney FC vs Western Sydney Wanderers
Melbourne City vs Western United
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
KV Oostende vs Kortrijk
Royal Excel Mouscron vs Racing Genk
Waasland-Beveren vs Zulte-Waregem
Sporting Charleroi vs KV Mechelen
Brazilian Serie A:
Fluminense vs Sport Recife
Vasco da Gama vs Coritiba
Czechia Liga 1:
Opava vs Zlin
Mlada Boleslav vs Zbrojovka Brno
Slovan Liberec vs Bohemians 1905
Slovacko vs Karvina
Slavia Prague vs Sigma Olomouc
English Premier League:
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs West Bromwich Albion
Leeds United vs Brighton & Hove Albion
West Ham United vs Burnley
Fulham vs Chelsea
Leicester City vs Southampton
French Ligue 1:
Olympique de Marseille vs Nimes Olympique
Angers SCO vs Paris Saint-Germain
German Bundesliga:
Bv09 Borussia Dortmund vs Mainz 05
TSG Hoffenheim vs Arminia Bielefeld
VfL Wolfsburg vs RB Leipzig
Koln vs Hertha Berlin
Werder Bremen vs Augsburg
VfB Stuttgart vs Borussia Moenchengladbach
German Bundesliga 2:
Hannover 96 vs St. Pauli
Erzgebirge Aue vs Fortuna Dusseldorf
VfL Bochum vs Nurnberg
Italian Serie A:
Bologna vs Hellas Verona
Torino vs Spezia
Sampdoria vs Udinese
Italian Serie B:
Cittadella vs Ascoli
Monza vs Cosenza
Pisa vs Brescia
Pordenone vs Venezia
Reggina vs Lecce
Dutch Eredivisie:
FC Emmen vs Vitesse Arnhem
Sparta Rotterdam vs PSV Eindhoven
FC Utrecht vs Heracles Almelo
PEC Zwolle vs Fortuna Sittard
AZ Alkmaar vs ADO Den Haag
Portuguese Liga 1:
Pacos de Ferreira vs Sporting Braga
Vitoria Guimaraes vs Farense
Tondela vs Boavista
Portuguese Liga 2:
Leixoes Matosinhos vs Chaves
Cova de Piedade vs Vilafranquense
SL Benfica II vs Academica de Coimbra
Vizela vs Penafiel
Turkish Super Lig:
Konyaspor vs Goztepe
Istanbul BB vs Sivasspor
Gazisehir Gaziantep vs Kayserispor
Antalyaspor vs Trabzonspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!