PSG vs Metz Predictions

• PSG have scored and conceded in five of their last six Ligue 1 home games, four of which they won.
• Metz have scored in each of their last three league games.
• Metz need to match or better what St Etienne do at Nantes to remain in the relegation play-off spot.

Lack of title pretenders to push PSG a problem

Paris Saint-Germain will round the season off with a home win and then quickly want to forget a season which brought Lionel Messi and a great deal of unfulfilled expectations to the club. Messi’s move looked like a masterstroke when he was waltzing around Manchester City defenders and conjuring up trademark goals back in the autumn, but he couldn’t fix PSG’s ingrained flaws that arose again once the Champions League got serious.

Ligue 1 never got serious for Mauricio Pochettino’s men, who didn’t have a challenger for top spot in the second half of the campaign, and a strange campaign now draws to a close. PSG will go for their 26th league win against a Metz side clinging on to 18th place and the relegation play-off berth.

Les Grenats were bottom a few weeks ago, but have won back-to-back games at home to Lyon and Angers to give themselves faint hope of avoiding the drop. But they will be relying on Nantes doing them a favour against relegation rivals Saint-Etienne, because we can’t see any way they keep their three-match unbeaten run going at the Parc des Princes.

Returning Neymar can nudge Mbappe out of the limelight

PSG have Neymar back from suspension so they can field their fearsome attacking trident for one last time before Kylyan Mbappe’s likely summer exit. The Frenchman has been mopping up all the goals he can before heading off, but Neymar won’t want to play second fiddle in this one and looks value in the anytime goalscorer betting at more than twice the odds of Messi and Mbappe.

Never underestimate the potential for PSG to concede against inferior sides and even though they thumped Montpellier 4-0 on their own patch last week, we believe Metz carry enough threat to grab a goal in the capital. The visitors have scored six goals in their last three games while PSG have kept just one clean sheet in their last six at home.

A 4-1 victory is worth a play in correct score betting as PSG average 2.44 home goals per game in Ligue 1 this season, but Metz’s average margin of defeat at the Parc des Princes over the last 15 years has been closer to three goals than two and a half.