Lyon will look to come back from their opening-day defeat against Montpellier in the Ligue 1. Last time out, Les Gones were defeated 2-1 by Strasbourg. La Paillade opened their campaign with a dramatic 2-2 draw against newly promoted Le Havre.
Preview (Lyon vs Montpellier)
Lyon would have been eager to start the new season on a high note after a poor seventh-place finish. Laurent Blanc’s team was unable to escape defeat against Strasbourg. This despite having 65% of the ball and 23 shots, seven of which were on goal. Lyon did not capitalize on their advantage. Goals from Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Lebo Mothiba in the second half gave the victory to the home team. In the 88th minute, Nicolas Tagliafico scored to give Strasbourg a lead they would not relinquish. Despite the Argentine’s goal, Strasbourg held on to win.
Les Gones can still be confident, however, given they only lost four of their 19 home league games during the previous season, winning 10 and drawing four. Lyon will be hoping to bounce back immediately from last weekend’s loss when Montpellier comes to town after having great success at Groupama Stadium last season, scoring 35 goals while allowing only 19 goals. On the opening weekend, Gautier Lloris gave newly promoted Le Havre the lead and silenced the Stade de la Mosson fans, leaving Montpellier behind 1-0 after just five minutes. After the break, Akor Adams scored two goals in as many minutes to turn the game around.
Samuel Grandsir’s 90th-minute goal gave Montpellier a crucial point, forcing La Paillade to accept a draw. Grandsir had to break through the Montpellier defense to score. Nevertheless, it’s important to keep in mind that Montpellier earned 26 of their 50 points away from home last season. They finished the Occitania team’s previous campaign with the eighth-best away record in Ligue 1. When MHSC travels to Groupama Stadium on Saturday, Michel Der Zakarian will be hopeful that his team can regain their strong road performance. However, MHSC may find it challenging to bounce back from last weekend’s 90th-minute equalizer.
Team News
This weekend, Lyon will be without Anthony Lopes and Dejan Lovren due to injuries. Skelly Alvero is suspended due to a red card he received at the conclusion of the previous season. Alexandre Lacazette, Bradley Barcola, and Rayan Cherki will operate on the sides for the hosts. They had 31 goals in 39 games across all competitions last season.
Theo Sainte-Luce, a defender for Montpellier, will not travel to Lyon as he is still recovering from an injury, and Issiaga Sylla is questionable for the match on Saturday. With ex-Sunderland forward Wahbi Khazri anticipated to provide attacking support to the team’s lone striker Akor Adams, who scored a brace on the opening weekend, the visitors are set to adopt the same 4-2-3-1 configuration as the hosts. Given what transpired on the first weekend, we anticipate Lyon and Montpellier to put on a fun show at the Groupama Stadium, with a high-scoring draw appearing to be the most likely result.
Lyon 2 – 2 Montpellier
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