Two Ligue 1 newcomers this season will face each other in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France. Lorient and Paris have already shown that they can cause problems for any opponent: the visitors had previously knocked out Paris Saint-Germain (1:0).
Lorient
Lorient, meanwhile, have already climbed to ninth place in the Ligue 1 thanks to a nine-match unbeaten run. Before that, they had managed only two wins in their first 11 rounds. If they had dropped fewer points in matches against sides such as Metz (1:1)... although Metz are also a newcomer to the top division. In the Coupe de France, the hosts have so far been lucky with the draw: their toughest test to date has been Championnat National 3 side Hauts Lyonnais (3:1).
Paris
The same cannot be said about Paris. In the round of 32, they were fortunate that Paris Saint-Germain were off target, and when their shots were on goal, Obed Nkambadio came to the rescue. It was the goalkeeper, rather than Jonathan Ikoné, who scored the only goal, who was named man of the match. And he is the back-up goalkeeper. Against Lorient, he may get the nod again, or Stéphane Gilli may prefer first-choice Kevin Trapp, who helped them take points off Olympique de Marseille (2:2) last Saturday.
Lorient vs Paris Prediction
On the one hand, Lorient’s unbeaten run looks impressive, but on the other, Paris have already stopped serious opponents. They were, however, rather fortunate against Paris Saint-Germain. Since the start of the season, the hosts have lost at home only once in 10 matches and have scored in each of them. Our prediction: Lorient will at least score and avoid defeat in regular time.
