Far from comfortable at the summit of the Ligue 1 standings, holders Paris Saint-Germain head to the Stade du Moustoir to tackle Lorient on Wednesday evening.
Luis Enrique's men strode past Brest 3-0 on Saturday, shortly before Les Merlus' winless run extended to three matches in a 2-0 defeat away to Angers.
Match preview
PSG may have customarily assumed first place in the top-flight table, but no fewer than five teams are within touching distance of the reigning Ligue 1 and European champions, who face a monumental fight to retain their crown.
The capital giants have not been aided by their own inconsistency since the season began, having already dropped seven points in their opening nine Ligue 1 matches, while claiming just two wins from their last five in the top flight.
However, one of those successes came in dominant fashion last time out at Brest, who succumbed to an Achraf Hakimi double and late Desire Doue strike at the Stade Francis Le-Ble as PSG made it back-to-back wins after their outrageous 7-2 Champions League beating of Bayer Leverkusen.
Thanks to Marseille's loss at the hands of Lens, PSG have usurped their former table-topping Classique rivals, but Les Olympiens sit just two points worse off on 18, and their recent conquerors Lens are Les Parisiens' closest challengers on 19 points.
Enrique's men have at least hit a rich vein of goalscoring form at an ideal time - netting a terrific 13 strikes across their last three games - and the success over Brest also represented PSG's first away clean sheet in any tournament since mid-August.
Lorient manager Olivier Pantaloni on April 26, 2025
The holders' attacking excellence spells danger for a leaky Lorient side, who shipped multiple goals for the third game running in Sunday's scrap with Angers, who netted either side of the half-time whistle via Prosper Peter and Sidiki Cherif.
In between Les Scoistes' strikes, Lorient centre-forward Aiyegun Tosin had a penalty saved by Angers goalkeeper Herve Koffi, rubbing salt into the wounds for a Merlus team who now have just one point to show from their last three matches.
Olivier Pantaloni's men have also played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Brest and suffered a 2-0 reverse to Paris FC over the past three gameweeks, undesirable results that leave them in the 16th-placed relegation playoff spot, just one point better off than Auxerre.
However, the hosts can take some solace from the fact that seven of their eight Ligue 1 points so far this season have been won at home, where their praiseworthy tally of 11 goals actually makes them the joint third-best attacking side on their own turf.
Only Marseille (16) and Monaco (14) can boast more home goals in the 2025-26 Ligue 1 season, but Lorient's 11 goals conceded - seven of which came in one game vs. Lille - also makes them the division's worst home side defensively.
Les Merlus did earn a shock success over PSG at the Parc des Princes as recently as 2023, but Les Parisiens' last visit to the Stade du Moustoir in April 2024 ended 4-1 in their favour thanks to braces from Ousmane Dembele and the departed Kylian Mbappe.
Lorient Ligue 1 form:
L
D
W
L
D
L
Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1 form:
W
L
W
D
D
W
Paris Saint-Germain form (all competitions):
W
W
D
D
W
W
Team News
Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi pictured on September 17, 2025
After flaunting his attacking powers with a brace on Saturday, marauding right-back Hakimi will play no part in Wednesday evening's fixture, as PSG have confirmed that the Morocco international has been granted a well-earned rest.
Hakimi is the only out-and-out right-back in Enrique's squad, though, so the Spaniard may be forced to shoe-horn talented midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery into a defensive role - as he has done before.
Joao Neves (thigh) and Fabian Ruiz (groin) are both nearing returns from their issues and may be in with a chance of making the matchday squad in midweek, but it would be a surprise to see either fulcrum risked from the off.
As for Lorient, Les Merlus would ordinarily be able to welcome defender Abdoulaye Faye back from a yellow-card ban, but the Bayer Leverkusen loanee is also nursing a foot injury and is not expected back until December.
Isaac Toure (ACL), Panos Katseris (dead leg), ex-PSG youngster Bandiougou Fadiga (ankle) and Newcastle United-owned attacker Trevan Sanusi (also ankle) are keeping Faye company on the sidelines, and none should be back for Wednesday.
Pantaloni notably took off centre-back Bamo Meite at half time on Sunday too, so Igor Silva should be primed to step into the backline if his colleague is injured.
Lorient possible starting lineup:
Mvogo; Silva, Yongwa, Talbi; Le Bris, Avom, Abergel, Kouassi; Makengo, Pagis; Tosin
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Zaire-Emery, Marquinhos, Beraldo, Mendes; Lee, Vitinha, Mayulu; Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia
SM words green background
We say: Lorient 1-4 Paris Saint-Germain
Home matches involving Lorient guarantee goals at both ends of the pitch, and Les Merlus may feel hopeful of troubling a PSG backline missing the influential Hakimi.
However, the European champions can bite back incredibly hard to teach the strugglers an attacking lesson and maintain their slender lead at the summit.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
ID:584508:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect9285:
No Data Analysis info
Previews by email
Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!