Paris-Saint Germain Must Defeat Rennes

Paris–Saint Germain currently sits in third level on points, but behind on goal-differential of Marseille and four points behind league-leading Lyon.

Winning the title is not out of reach, but the club needs to start controlling and dominating games, starting with their match against Rennes on Friday.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Lucas Moura all need to step up and lead the offense to a plethora of goals. Moura will be productive with his speed down the flank, while Cavani will be looking to cut inside himself to square to Ibrahimovic who simply has to shoot on frame.

The three have not been clicking as much as of late, and that needs to change as they are still the best trio in French soccer offensively. Injuries, drops in form and the inability to connect in the final third has depleted them of scoring as much.

Coach Laurent Blanc is hellbent on sticking with the 4-3-3, which has hurt his club defensively in protecting leads or falling behind. Still, the trust is there as it allows his players to play freely on and off the ball. However, the discipline is not always there, which is why he should experiment with a 4-1-2-1-2 as there is more stability defensively as well as striding forward.

In the 4-1-2-1-2, the back four will be protected by Thiago Motta, who is as tough as defensive midfielders come. Moura could play in the left of midfield while Marco Verrati could play on the right. Behind Ibrahimovic and Cavani would be Javier Pastore, whose passing and shooting will be too much to handle for defenders.

Rennes will be playing in a 4-3-3, so Blanc should interchange between formations as the team could be tricked defensively. Play a 4-3-3 in the first half, then switch to the 4-1-2-1-2 to shake things up a bit.

Prediction: Paris-Saint Germain 3, Rennes 1