Paris Saint-Germain will look to put a cherry on top of one of the most impressive runs in the history of European soccer Sunday.
Les Parisiens dominated Ligue 1, clinched the Coupe de France, and in May, they were crowned Champions of Europe for the first time in their history. A victory over Chelsea in the FIFA Club World Cup Final would set Luis Enrique’s team apart in the modern era.
PSG has often been seen as a squad overflowing with talent but lacking a unified direction. Enrique, with his experience managing the Spanish National Team and Barcelona, has addressed this problem.
Not only is PSG a force going forward, but Enrique has turned them into a multi-faceted outfit that can defend as well as it can attack.
Past versions of Paris Saint-Germain found it difficult to win matches outside their own terms, but this team is capable of defeating opponents in multiple ways.
PSG smothered Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in its last two matches, holding the two European giants scoreless and limiting them to 1.34 expected goals and one big scoring chance combined.
Chelsea’s got plenty to offer going forward, but if PSG can dominate Real Madrid and Bayern Munich without much fuss it’s feasible to think that doing it against Chelsea won’t be a massive ask.
That’s especially true given Chelsea’s preferred method of attack. The Blues are patient and want to lull you into mistakes, but PSG is just not making those errors under Enrique. They’ll be happy to defend while Chelsea knocks it around all night. That is a change of pace from a club that not too long ago squeezed Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar into the same lineup.
The other defense in this matchup, Chelsea, has been impressive of late, but they’ve yet to truly be tested in this tournament.
The Blues were in a tough group, but the only European club they’ve faced in the Club World Cup was Benfica.
And even against this middling schedule, Chelsea’s defense has been called into question several times. PSG could overwhelm them.
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Since the end of May, PSG has defeated Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid by a combined score of 15-0.
There are just too many ways that PSG can win this match, and it’s hard to see this train coming off the tracks after months of domination.
The Play: PSG -1.5 (+160, DraftKings)
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Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
