Today at 2:45 p.m. ET at Parc Des Princes in France, UEFA Champions League Group C heavyweight Paris Saint-Germain will host the floundering Anderlecht in a match that can be live streamed here.
On paper the match appears like a total rout; Anderlecht has surrendered 10 goals this year in Champions League Play without finding the back of the net once. Meanwhile, the vaunted PSG side has a goal differential of +11, having scored 12 times and allowing a solitary shot to get through.
Today Anderlecht may be catching a break, however, as PSG is expected to be without their high-scoring striker tandem of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani.
Ibrahimovic felt pain in his knee during a Ligue 1 match, while Cavani took a shot to the leg in the same game. Despite a four-goal explosion by Ibrahimovic in his last Champions League match, and the effectiveness of the pair together, their health won't be risked when the side holds such a strong position already in the standings.
"Edi is suffering from a little bit of pain in his right thigh," said boss Laurent Blanc. "Zlatan doesn't have a serious injury but it could get worse. And that's why we will be prudent."
Despite the loss of some key players today, testing PSG's depth, they are heavy favorites to clinch progression. Blanc is cautioning his side against resting on their laurels, however.
"When results have been very good you have to be careful not to relax," Blanc said. "We can qualify tomorrow so we will be motivated. This is one of the most important games of the group stage."
Anderlecht coach John van den Brom sounded a tone of optimism heading into today's tilt, but showed vast respect for the havoc PSG can wreak. "In my head, we're still in the race. We can at least do better than last time, surely that can't be so difficult."
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