PSG v Leicester: Premier League champions to fire in defeat
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As if parading the Premier League trophy and making a Champions League group stage debut wouldn’t have made 2016 surreal enough for Leicester fans, they get the opportunity to butt heads with PSG in California and Barcelona in Stockholm in pre-season too.
The first of those opportunities comes in the early hours of Sunday morning at LA Galaxy’s StubHub Center. The Premier League title holders are 15/4 outsiders for the victory, with their Ligue 1 counterparts 7/10 favourites and the draw a 14/5 shot.
Even without taking into account the higher number of borderline world-class players at the French club’s disposal and their greater experience in these clash-of-the-champion style scenarios, there is enough evidence this summer alone to suggest that Unai Emery’s men are worthy frontrunners.
Whereas the Foxes needed penalties to overcome Celtic, whose pre-season priority is qualifying for the Champions League, following a 1-1 draw on their International Champions Cup debut last weekend, PSG have played twice in the tournament already and won comfortably both times.
After opening with a 3-1 triumph over Inter, the Champions League quarter-final regulars served up the same dose to Real Madrid in midweek and arguably with more conviction too given that they led 3-0 as early as the 40th minute.
Such a flair for friendly combat isn’t a new development either, with the capital side prevailing in the North American and Europe section of the International Champions Cup last year courtesy of wins over Benfica (3-2), Fiorentina (4-2) and Manchester United (2-0).
You don’t have to be the most observant punter in the world to pick out that all three contests involving PSG and Leicester in the 2016 edition saw both teams score, as did three of the former’s four encounters in their successful 2015 participation. More of the same is rated an 8/13 likelihood.
Best of all, if you have the urge to combine those two elements – three points for Les Parisiens but no clean sheet – you can do so at enhanced odds at Ladbrokes, with the price boosted from 9/4 to 11/4.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
