Luis Enrique believes it will be difficult for his Paris Saint-Germain team to finish above Lens in Ligue 1 as the title race begins to hot up in the French top flight. 

PSG are two points clear at the summit but could be replaced at the top before facing Le Havre at Stade Oceane, with Lens taking on Strasbourg this Friday. 

Lens saw their three-game winning league run come to an end last time out, with Pierre Sage's side coming out on the wrong side of a five-goal thriller to Monaco in a 3-2 defeat. 

Luis Enrique's side, meanwhile, bounced back from their shock loss away to Rennes with a 3-1 win over Metz as Desire Doue, Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos all scored. 

Despite the slim margin between the two teams, the Opta supercomputer has PSG as the overwhelming favourites to win the title, with the Parisiens coming out on top in 92.3% of its season simulations, compared to Lens' 7.3% probability. 

But Luis Enrique did not discount Lens, telling reporters: "What's different about Ligue 1 this season is that Lens are having an incredible season. 

"As for ourselves, we're at our level, with a points tally that's more or less equivalent to that of our previous two seasons.

"Lens are in great form, and it's motivating to be up against a team of that level in the league.

"It will be difficult to finish ahead of them as they're right there with us, but we'll see whether they can put pressure on us after their game away to Strasbourg today."

PSG come up against a Le Havre side aiming for a return to winning ways after losing 2-0 to Nantes last time out, leaving them 13th in the standings after 23 matches. 

They are nine points clear of Auxerre in the relegation play-off place, and Luis Enrique insisted his team can not underestimate their opponents, especially at home. 

"Le Havre's situation now is different to what it was in the past as they're in a more comfortable position in the table," the PSG boss added.

"They're a different team now because they play with a lot of central players. Playing away at Le Havre has never been easy.

"I remember last year in particular. It'll be tight, but it's important for us to win. We're ready to perform."

But the Parisiens will arrive into this clash with confidence after booking their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 5-4 aggregate win over Monaco in midweek. 

After coming from behind to win the first leg 3-2, PSG drew 2-2 with their Ligue 1 counterparts, though Wout Faes missed a late chance to send the tie to extra-time. 

The defending champions will take on Chelsea in the next round in what is a rematch of their Club World Cup final defeat against the Blues in the summer, though Luis Enrique insisted that revenge for that match was not on his, or his players' minds. 

"As always, I'm very happy with our draw. It will be fascinating to play against Chelsea, one of the best teams in England," Luis Enrique said.

"We know them well, but there won't be any feeling of revenge because this is a different competition."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Le Havre – Issa Soumare

Issa Soumare has scored each of Le Havre's last three goals in Ligue 1, and he will be keen to have his say against Luis Enrique's star-studded squad. 

The last player to have a longer scoring run in the French top flight for Le Havre was Adrian Kozniku, who netted four times in a row between October and November 1996 (four).

PSG – Ousmane Dembele

Much like his 2025-26 season which ended with a Ballon d'Or, Ousmane Dembele has hit form at the turn of the new year, and he will be key for PSG here. 

Indeed, Dembele has been involved in eight goals for PSG in Ligue 1 in 2026 (six goals, two assists), more than any other player in the competition so far this year.

MATCH PREDICTION: PSG WIN

PSG are the team Le Havre have hosted most often in the 21st century in all competitions while losing 100% of these matches (L4).

In addition, Le Havre have lost nine of their last 10 Ligue 1 matches against the Parisiens (D1), which is only one fewer than in their first 23 encounters (W4 D9).

However, Didier Digard's side have picked up 26 points after 23 Ligue 1 matches this season, their best record at this stage in the 21st century. The club has not done better after 23 top-flight games since 1995-96 (27).

Le Havre have won five home matches in Ligue 1 this season (D5 L2), already two more than in 2024-25. Their next home win will be their 200th in the top-flight (D134 L149).

But they come up against a PSG side who have won 89% of their league matches since December 2025 (W8 L1), with only Inter (92% - 12/13) performing better over the same period among teams in Europe's top five leagues.

Luis Enrique's side have lost four of their last 14 away games in Ligue 1 (W8 D2), though. This comes after they set the record for the longest away unbeaten run in the history of the top European leagues (39 matches from February 2023 to April 2025).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Le Havre – 12.7%

Draw – 18.2%

PSG – 69.1%