PSG and Chelsea get their Champions League group stage campaigns underway at Stade Jean-Bouin on Thursday evening, as the pair attempt to navigate their way out of the tightest of groups.
The two teams last met at the quarter final stage of the 2018/19 competition, with Chelsea surviving a PSG fightback to emerge victorious thanks to Maren Mjelde’s dramatic late winner.
The 2018/19 season was the last time PSG failed to reach the last four in the Champions League; the French outfit have been beaten in the semi finals by the eventual European champions in each of the last three seasons.
When is kick off? Thursday 20 October, 20:00 (BST)
Where is the match being played? Stade Jean-Bouin
TV channel/livestream? DAZN UEFA Women’s Champions League YouTube
Highlights? DAZN UEFA Women’s Champions League YouTube
PSG are without talisman Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who remains a long term absentee after rupturing her ACL during the group stages of Euro 2022.
Grace Geyoro will likely captain PSG on Thursday evening, having been the subject of interest from Chelsea during the summer transfer window and publicly confirming her ‘desire’ to join the Blues, before ultimately remaining in Paris.
PSG (4-3-3): Bouhaddi; Lawrence, Ilestedt, De Almeida, Karchaoui; Jean-François, Geyoro, Groenen; Martens, Bachmann, Diani
Fran Kirby missed Sunday’s WSL victory over Everton due to illness and hasn’t travelled to France, while Jelena Cankovic sat out with a niggle. Melanie Leupolz is a long-term absentee, having given birth to her first child at the beginning of October.
Summer arrivals Eve Perisset, Kadeisha Buchanan, Katerina Svitkova and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd could all make their Champions League debuts for the Blues on Thursday.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Berger; Perisset, Bright, Buchanan, Eriksson; Ingle, Cuthbert, Harder; James, Kerr, Reiten
With Real Madrid also in the mix, PSG and Chelsea find themselves in a tough group and will really have their work cut out to reach the knockout stages. This does however mean that dropping points on Thursday evening will not be catastrophic to hopes of qualifying or even topping the group – given the calibre of opposition, the likelihood is that most teams in the group will drop points across their six games.
Thursday’s encounter promises to be a fascinating battle, with a selection of the finest forward players in Europe on display. A tightly-contested, high scoring match up could play out.
Prediction: PSG 2-2 Chelsea
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