Neymar Jr. celebrated 100 Paris Saint-Germain games as the champions beat Montpellier Hérault SC, but Kylian Mbappé clicking into a gear might be the best news for Mauricio Pochettino with FC Lorient up next.
FC Lorient - Paris Saint-Germain
- Kick-off: Sunday at 14:00 GMT
Pochettino returned to the dugout after beating a bout of COVID-19 last Friday, overseeing a comprehensive 4-0 win over Montpellier - one that kept the defending Ligue 1 Uber Eats champions at the top of the table, above LOSC by virtue of goal-difference.
Neymar has got so many of Paris's goals since joining the club from Barcelona in 2017 and scored his 81st in all competitions as he brought up his century of appearances at the Parc des Princes, but Mbappé put in the most noteworthy performance with two goals and an assist from his withdrawn position behind Mauro Icardi.
Mbappé central in a 4-2-3-1?
It was the French FIFA World Cup-winner's first strikes of the Pochettino era, and pulled him onto 14 for the season, two clear of Stade de Reims striker Boulaye Dia at the top of the scoring charts. PSG are significant overdogs for Saturday's game, but Poch may be tempted to play his strongest possible side, at least for the first hour or so.
Watch: Highlights of PSG's 4-0 win over Montpellier
"I was already happy with his hard work and what he was doing on the pitch," the coach, who succeeded Thomas Tuchel at the start of January, said of Mbappé. "I'm happy too, that he scored. For an attacker, scoring gives you confidence, but we knew it was only a matter of time.
"We're PSG, and we must plot our own path, impose our rhythm. We're in a competition and the competition doesn't sit around and wait for you. We have to win, and we'll find ways to progress."
Navas and Marquinhos missing
Paris have won four games and drawn the other in all competitions since Pochettino took charge. The Argentine will be without Keylor Navas and Marquinhos as he looks to extend that undefeated run to six, though. Rib and groin complaints respectively see the first-choice goalkeeper and club captain join Ander Herrera (thigh) and Juan Bernat (torn ACL) on the sidelines.
Qatar-era PSG have never lost to Lorient, the club's last loss to the Bretons coming back in August 2011 when Julien Quercia got the only goal of their game at the Parc. Promoted as Ligue 2 BKT champions last season, les Merlus begin the day 30 points worse off than their visitors, with only Nîmes Olympique behind them.
Christophe Pélissier's side did at least arrest a run of five games without victory in beating Dijon FCO 3-2 on Wednesday, Inter Milan-owned Andreaw Gravillon snatching all three points with a 96th-minute winner.
Watch: Highlights of Lorient's 3-2 win over Dijon
Lorient express
That rescheduled Round 20 match means that as well as all the other odds stacked up against them, Lorient will also have had five days' less rest than PSG before their clash at the Stade du Moustoir. Pelissier is not looking for excuses, though.
"The sequence of games? We'll simply manage the task from day to day," he said. "It's been very hard physically and mentally but I'm not panicking."
Pelissier does at least have a full-strength squad to call upon, but for Thomas Fontaine. The Madagascar centre-back has tendonitis in his Achilles, so Gravillon and Jérémy Morel should combine at the heart of the defence once again.
Possible line-ups
Lorient: Dreyer; Hergault, Laporte, Gravillon, Morel, Etienne; Laurienté, Chalobah, Abergel, Wissa; Moffi
PSG: Rico; Florenzi, Kehrer, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Di Maria, Paredes, Gueye, Neymar; Mbappé, Icardi