Paris Saint-Germain’s French forward Kylian Mbappeshoots the ball during the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Stade Rennais FC at The Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris on March 19, 2023. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

Paris Saint-Germain’s march towards another Ligue 1 title was slowed on Sunday as they went down 2-0 at home to Rennes, the second time Christophe Galtier’s side have lost to the Brittany club in 2023.

Kylian Mbappe had an effort disallowed for offside before Karl Toko-Ekambi put Rennes in front with a magnificent strike in the final minute of the first half.

Arnaud Kalimuendo then made it 2-0 three minutes after the restart against the club he left in the last close season, as PSG slumped to a first home league defeat of the campaign.

It is the Parisians’ fourth Ligue 1 loss this season, all of them coming in 2023. They also lost away to Rennes when the teams last met in January.

The result means Marseille can cut PSG’s lead at the top of the table to seven points if they win away to Reims in Sunday’s late game.

Rennes, meanwhile, reclaim fifth place from Lille in the fight for European qualification.

The team finishing fifth will qualify for the Europa Conference League, with the top three going into the Champions League and fourth into the Europa League.

Recall Arteta will be without the services of Gabriel Jesus, Leonardo Trossard and Eddie Nkietah who are out injured

Mikel Arteta could have more woes to worry about as Kieran Tierney and Martin Odegaard are doubtful for the clash at Craven Cottage after being struck with illness.

The Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor reports that ‘late decisions’ have to be made over both Odegaard and Tierney, who could be ruled out again through illness after they too missed out on the squad to play Sporting:

If ruled out, Oleksandr Zinchenko would keep his place at left-back, while Fabio Vieira will slot in to marshal the roaming role of Odegaard in midfield.

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Arsenal will travel to London on Sunday to take on 9th placed Fulham as they look to restore their five-point lead over Manchester City who defeated Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Inter Milan missed the chance to cut Napoli’s huge lead at the top of Serie A lead on Friday after suffering a shock 2-1 defeat to relegation-threatened Spezia.

Goals from Daniel Maldini and M’Bala Nzola either side of a Romelu Lukaku penalty handed fourth-from-bottom Spezia a crucial victory in their bid to avoid the drop.

But the defeat was another bodyblow to Inter’s faint hopes of overhauling Napoli at the top of the table.

Napoli are now 15 points clear of second-placed Inter at the top of the table and have played one game less.

Inter paid the price for failing to take the chances which came their way, with Argentinian forward Lautaro Martinez having a penalty saved by Spezia goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski after 15 minutes.

Martinez did find the net early in the second half but Lukaku was offside.

Spezia took the lead after 55 minutes when Maldini — the son of AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini — swept home a low shot after good work by Nzola down the right.

Inter got back on level terms with seven minutes remaining however after Denzel Dumfries won a penalty and Lukaku converted.

Inter’s joy was short-lived though, with Dumfries upending Viktor Kovalenko at the other end four minutes later to concede a penalty.

Nzola converted coolly to give Spezia its first victory in Serie A against Inter at the sixth attempt.