Paris (AFP)

Paris SG has gaps to fill Wednesday in Monaco, three days after taking the water already against ASM (3-3), while Rennes, traveling to Nîmes, seeks to reduce the gap with Marseille, second of Ligue 1.

Three late matches of the 12th, 15th and 16th days have been scheduled for the middle of the week, between the 20th day of the championship and the 16th round of the Coupe de France of the weekend, the opportunity for Paris to establish its lead in the classification and for Rennes, 3rd, to regain the margin in the race for the podium.

The Bretons lost the top game at home to Marseille on Friday (1-0), and are now relegated to eight points behind the Phocaeans. A victory in Nîmes (19:00) would give Julien Stéphan's men four points ahead of Nantes, 4th.

But Nîmes is in a reverse dynamic: the Crocos, 19th (15 pts), started again this weekend by dominating Reims (2-0).

"In late matches, we always think we can do good operations because they are bonus matches. Whatever happens we will always be on the podium after the match, but there will also be a point at the start of the match , which will have to be improved, "asked Stéphan, who has two uncertain major players, goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and the 17-year-old hope Eduardo Camavinga.

- PSG is looking for solutions -

Thomas Tuchel, the PSG coach, will have to make changes in defense for his trip to Monaco which can give Parisians eight points ahead of the ranking (21:00). Marquinhos, Juan Bernat and Thomas Meunier, slightly affected, have indeed withdrawn.

The opportunity for Presnel Kimpembe, Thilo Kehrer, even Colin Dagba and Layvin Kurzawa to save playing time, while the capital club will be called upon to play every three days until early February.

Especially since the performance of his players on Sunday evening at the Parc des Princes is something to worry about. Defensively, the Parisians took to the water, and only Neymar, author of a double, carried out the starry attack of the champions of France composed of the "Fantastic Four" (Neymar-Mbappé-Di Maria-Icardi).

"These are matches to improve, to grow. That's exactly what we need, it's good," had calmed the German technician Sunday evening.

On the Rock, Robert Moreno continues to make his mark. In two matches since his arrival, the Spanish coach has quickly found efficiency, like a Wissam Ben Yedder still as lethal to prance at the top of the L1 scorers ranking (14 goals).

Finally, Amiens (18th, 17 pts), who has not won the championship since November 2 (1-0 against Brest), has the opportunity against Reims (10th, 28 pts) to take a step ahead in the last two places synonymous with direct relegation (19:00).

The schedule of late matches played on Wednesday:

(19.00)

Nîmes - Rennes (12th day)

Amiens - Reims (16th day)

(2100)

Monaco - Paris SG (15th day)

© 2020 AFP