Just eight days after Act 1, Paris FC are back at the Parc des Princes. On Sunday 4th January, Les Rouge et Bleu got 2026 off to a perfect start with a 2-1 league win over their neighbours. In the meantime, the capital club shone in Kuwait, winning its first title of the year after a crazy match against Marseille in the Trophée des Champions (2-2, 4-1 on penalties).
This time, it will be a completely different match at the Porte d'Auteuil stadium, with a knockout game and a ticket to the round of 16 of the Coupe de France at stake. As a reminder, Luis Enrique's men beat Vendée Fontenay Foot (N3, 0-4) in the previous round, while PFC easily disposed of US Raon-l'Étape (R1, 0-3).
3 – In their three meetings, Paris Saint-Germain and Paris FC have always scored at least one goal.
10 – Désiré Doué has been involved in 10 goals in 7 Coupe de France matches with Paris (5 goals, 5 assists), making him the Parisian player involved in the most goals in the competition since his arrival in August 2024.
18 – Les Rouge et Bleu have won 18 of their last 19 Coupe de France matches, scoring 57 goals and conceding only 7 during that period.
The team fielded by Stéphane Gilli a week ago should be much the same as the one that will start this Coupe de France match. But in goal, although Kevin Trapp once again showed his quality against Paris, Obed Nkambadio could be given another chance. He was the starting keeper in the previous round, and the French international hopeful should logically continue in the Coupe de France.
In front of him, however, no changes are expected: with Algerian Samir Chergui not yet back from the Africa Cup of Nations, it is former Saint-Étienne player Timothée Kolodziejczak who is likely to partner Otávio and Moustapha Mbow to form a three-man central defence. In the wing-back positions, Hamari Traoré has just finished his AFCON campaign with Mali, which should lead the PFC staff to field Nhoa Sangui again on the right.
On the other side of the pitch, it's the same story with former Reims player Thibault De Smet, who is likely to be preferred to Finnish international Tuomas Ollila. Pierre Lees-Melou, who has undergone surgery on his shin, will once again miss the match against Les Rouge et Bleu and will therefore be unable to accompany his captain Maxime Lopez in midfield. It remains to be seen whether Vincent Marchetti will be preferred to Adama Camara this time around to play alongside the former Marseille player.
One thing is certain: Willem Geubbels, the only goalscorer for his team in the previous clash between the two clubs, is likely to lead the PFC attack in the absence of Jean-Philippe Krasso, who was eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations this weekend with Côte d'Ivoire. The former AS Monaco striker could once again be flanked by Jonathan Ikoné on his right and Alimami Gory on his left unless Mathieu Cafaro decides to shake things up. We'll find out on Monday...
