PSG are in excellent form at present, coming off a 4-1 win over Monaco at the weekend. Following that match, the Monaco coach suggested that they are currently the best team in Europe.

Have won 12 of their last 14 matches over 90 minutes, with this sequence including a powerful 5-2 victory away to Brest less than a fortnight ago, they look incredibly well oiled at the moment with few obvious flaws in the team that the hosts can exploit, with at least 2 goals scored in 8 of their last 9 encounters.

Brest have struggled to live with the best teams in the Champions League this season, losing 3-0 against both Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The home side will be further handicapped in this game as it will be played on neutral territory in Guingamp, over 100km from Brest. The clubs have played twice this season, with PSG winning both of these matches in a comprehensive manner.

This match is likelier to be played out as a Ligue 1 match than a Champions League clash, with Brest liable to follow the type of pattern of play that allowed them to be more competitive in their recent match than the 5-2 scoreline might suggest. That means this is a game that should lend itself to goals.

The two clashes between these sides this season have produced a total of 11 goals, with both teams scoring in both encounters.

Stopping PSG will be difficult given the sheer volume of goals that Luis Enrique’s side are scoring currently. In their last 9 matches, 7 have produced over 2.5 goals.

Brest have been in good scoring form themselves lately too. In their last 9 matches, they have hit the net exactly twice on 6 occasions, including in their last 3 games. PSG have only kept 1 clean sheet across their last 8 so there is every chance that the hosts net again in this encounter.

Ajorque’s role for Brest in this game will be to battle hard in attack to win and hold up the ball, with the centre-forward likely to be asked to be combative at the forefront of the attacking line. He will be actively encouraged to rough up the PSG defence and become involved in duels.

With 51 fouls this season across all competitions, no Brest player has got near to giving away the same number of free kicks. Mahdi Camara comes next on 35. Ajorque is giving up fouls at a rate of 2.13 per 90 minutes this season, which is also the highest rate among the Breton team.

Ajorque has committed at least 2 fouls in 14 of his last 19 starts (74% of these games), highlighting how prone he is to committing multiple fouls.

This is the veteran’s biggest match of his career, so his tendency to be aggressive is likely to be magnified in this atmosphere. He has committed at least 2 fouls in 5 of 7 Champions League appearances and was suspended for the game he missed.

Hakimi stands second among PSG players in the ranking of shots in the Champions League this season with 20, at a rate of 2.56 per 90 minutes. Overall this season, the right-back is still placed fourth, with 1.81 per 90 minutes.

Actively encouraged to be an attacking threat, he is clearly happy with his role, having signed a new contract with the club last week. He has featured in only 45 minutes of the last couple of games, with his energy preserved for this clash.

In the September clash against Brest, Hakimi had 2 efforts on goal and he also managed 1 when the teams met just a couple of weeks ago. Despite getting just a single shot away in that encounter, he ranked top among PSG players for touches in the final third with 32 (4 in the penalty box), showing that he was still getting into very advanced areas.

When he starts, he is rarely taken off, having only missed 72 minutes of the 26 matches he has featured in for PSG from the outset this season.

Camara stands second among Brest players in fouls this season with 35 across all competitions, at a rate of 1.42 per 90. He has, however, been giving away more free-kicks in the Champions League and is joint top in this regard with 12, at a rate of 1.82 per 90.

Will go head-to-head with 2 of PSG’s 3 most prolific free-kick winners this season: Joao Neves, who has won 37 fouls (1.58 per 90), and Desire Doue, who has picked up 34 (2.14 per 90).

He’s given up at least 2 free-kicks in 4 of his last 6 matches, as well as each of the last 4 he has played 90 minutes in.

Has already committed 1 foul in the 2 previous matches against PSG this season, but may well be pushed beyond that in what is the biggest game of his career to date. He will be asked to play an important role in shutting down the PSG playmakers and will be expected to do so in a physical manner if required.

Dembele is arguably the form attacker in world football currently, having scored 16 goals in his last 10 matches. His confidence will be through the roof and he will surely be hungry to get shots away as a result.

The former Barcelona winger has scored 8 goals in his last 3 games, including back-to-back hat-tricks, one of which came against Brest. Has managed at least 3 shots on target in each of his last 4 matches and has offered at least 2 in 7 successive games.

He also seems to enjoy playing Brest. In the previous match, he had 5 shots (4 on target) while in the September clash, he had 7 shots including 5 on target. Has scored 5 goals across these games.

With a hectic fixture list, PSG are likely to go for the kill in the first leg, and that could mean keeping their key players, like Dembele, on the field for a prolonged period to give them a rest in future weeks. This increases the possibility of him having another game with multiple shots on target.

PSG have been on fire offensively for much of the season and have more often than not managed at least 7 shots on target in their games. In their last 25 games across all competitions, they have had at least 7 shots on target a staggering 20 times – a strike rate of 80%. This makes the odds of 1.53 look very strong indeed.

Their previous 2 games against Brest this season have seen them muster a total of 16 shots on target. While 9 of these came at home in September, 7 came in the previous clash a couple of weeks ago.

Don’t expect any easing up from Luis Enrique’s side if they get into a commanding position. They will want to finish this game off in the first leg to allow players to be rested for the second leg next week. Expect an attacking approach throughout this match, no matter what the scoreline is.

Brest are an inherently more physical side than PSG, which is reflected in the fact that in both previous games this season between the clubs, they have received more cards than their Parisian counterparts. They came out on top 3-1 in this count in the capital and 1-0 when the sides met earlier this month.

With PSG expected to progress, there will be an onus on Luis Enrique’s side to manage themselves with regards to discipline. They will not want players picking up cheap yellow cards for future matches.

In contrast, Brest know their best chance of being competitive in this fixture is making it physical and running the risk of picking up bookings.

In Ligue 1, PSG are picking up 1.19 cards per 90 while Brest sit on 1.95 cards per 90. The Parisians, meanwhile, only commit 9.33 fouls per game while their opponents are on 12.7 in this regard.