PSG will be without star midfielder for UEFA Super Cup

On Wednesday, August 13, Paris Saint-Germain will take part in their first-ever UEFA Super Cup.

The champions of Europe will take on the winners of the Europa League, Tottenham Hotspur.

Unfortunately for PSG, they will be without one of their star midfielders, recently nominated for the Ballon d’Or, in this match and their Ligue 1 opener against Nantes on Sunday.

Joao Neves receives a two-match suspension

The player that PSG will be missing is Joao Neves.

He was sent off with a straight red late in the Club World Cup final for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair, and as a result will be out for two matches.

This was a somewhat surprising decision, as it is unusual to see a punishment for a FIFA competition be applied to a UEFA and French competition.

Who will start in his place?

There are a few names that are possible to start in place of Neves.

Assuming PSG plays their normal starters and formation, the easiest solution is Warren Zaire-Emery. He has the most similar skillset to Neves of anyone at the club, so it would not be difficult to implement him in.

If PSG wants to go more attacking, they could also think about putting Desire Doue in the midfield in place of Neves and then starting Bradley Barcola alongside Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. This was something I wanted to see PSG try more last season, but as far as I remember, we only saw it once in one Ligue 1 match.

If they want to go defensive, they could also try to do a 5-2-3 with all three of Marquinhos, Ilya Zarbanyi, and Willian Pacho starting, with Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes playing as wing-backs.

However, this would be a large change from what PSG normally plays, so I doubt they would do this.

My guess is that Zaire-Emery is the one who gets the nod in Neves’ absence.