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Unai Emery hopes Edinson Cavani tops Zlatan Ibrahimovic's PSG goals record

Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery wants to see star striker Edinson Cavani break Zlatan Ibrahimovic's all-time record for goals while with the French champions.

The Uruguay international levelled Dominique Rocheteau's 100 competitive goals with Les Parisiens when he scored a penalty in the 2-0 home win over Angers on Wednesday and one more goal will send him outright third.

Once Cavani reaches 101, he will be just eight behind the legendary Pedro Miguel Pauleta in second, but still a long way off Ibrahimovic's 156.

Regardless, Emery wants to see El Matador try to reach and better Zlatan's tally but warned he "must remain grounded in order to succeed" when addressing journalists in his pre-Montpellier news conference on Friday.

"I want him to," Emery said. "He wants to and the fans hope he does too. He is feeling confident and in form. We are working and we will continue to work. If he gets there, then it will be because he has worked for it."

Key to Cavani reaching Ibrahimovic's landmark tally as soon as possible could be Hatem Ben Arfa. The Frenchman is slowly working his way back into Emery's plans after a slow start to life at PSG.

The Spaniard was encouraged by Ben Arfa's Angers display, in which he won a second half penalty for Cavani's goal, but believes "he can still do more and can improve tactically."

"Hatem works every day to adapt to the team," Emery said. "He is a good player with plenty of ability. I am satisfied. He has a better mentality today [than when Emery arrived]. He aids the positive atmosphere we want. This goes for every player."

A return to Emery's trademark 4-2-3-1 formation has aided Ben Arfa's revival and the Basque tactician feels the system brings out the best in players like the former Nice man and the injury-prone Javier Pastore.

"My first preseason game [a 2-1 win over West Brom] we played 4-2-3-1 and then 4-3-3," said Emery. "This team is made for 4-3-3 but 4-2-3-1 suits players like Pastore and Ben Arfa better. They can also play out wide though."

Regarding team news ahead of Montpellier, Emery bemoaned three days as "not much time to recover" and hinted at Pastore and Marco Verratti's ultimate absences -- which have since been confirmed.

His optimism over Angel Di Maria and Layvin Kurzawa was in good reason, though, as both were named in his 19-man group.

"There is a doubt over Verratti," Emery admitted. "Di Maria is doing better, I believe. He trained normally the day after Angers. Pastore is not 100 percent for the game.

"With Kurzawa, he can help the team and he was involved in squad training on Thursday. If he trains well in our final session, he will be ready. However, he is in constant pain. Some days go well, others not so well."