Lyon will be hoping to continue their resurgence when they host Nantes in Ligue 1. Les Gones defeated Monaco 1-0 over the weekend to earn their first back-to-back victory. Les Canaris lost 2-0 at home to Brest.
Preview (Lyon vs. Nantes)
The unstoppable decline of Lyon to the bottom of the standings was not stopped by either Laurent Blanc or Fabio Grosso. A late comeback under new manager Pierre Sage will give the supporters of Groupama Stadium hope for the future. It came five days after defeating Toulouse 3-0 to record just their second league win of the current season. Lyon traveled briefly to the Principality to play title rivals Monaco. Monaco had a poor day in front of goal and was punished when Jefferson finished a sweeping move.
The home crowd on Wednesday may still remember 2023 for all the wrong reasons. Lyon will start the midweek schedule outside of the automatic relegation zone. Lyon is currently in the playoff position, one point ahead of Lorient. Les Gones’ last three straight top-flight victories came in April.
Not only did Lyon avoid having the poorest defensive record at home going into the last round of 2023 fixtures. Granted, 16 goals conceded at the Groupama Stadium is hardly a comforting figure in and of itself. Brest has taken advantage of Lyon’s lowly position in the standings. They are mounting an unlikely attack on the Champions League spots. On Sunday at the Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes became the latest casualty of the daring Pirates.
Jocelyn Gourvennec, who has been in charge of Nantes since last month, suffered his first home loss as manager when Brest took the lead thanks to a brilliant finish from inside the D by Hugo Magnetti. Steve Mounie then added Les Pirates’ second goal of the afternoon to cap off the victory. Nantes had opened their Canaris account with a shocking 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain’s closest rivals, Nice.
Team News
Over the weekend, three different substitutes combined to score Lyon’s victory through Jeffinho: Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Tino Kadewere, and Corentin Tolisso, who came off due to an injury, respectively. Though the severity of Lacazette’s injury is unknown, the former Arsenal player was among two players lost during that triumph, along with left-back Nicolas Tagliafico, who is not anticipated to play against Les Canaris. In Tagliafico’s absence, Henrique Silva should start on the left side of Sage’s 3-4-2-1 formation. Remy Riou (muscle) and Johann Lepenant (knee) will also miss the game due to injury.
For the journey to the Groupama Stadium, Nantes will have Jean-Kevin Duverne back from suspension; nevertheless, Gourvennec has now witnessed another player, Ronael Pierre-Gabriel, break the rules, as the right-back will miss this match due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Although Pierre-Gabriel was only played as a substitute in the defeat to Brest, if Jean-Charles Castelletto returns to his more recognizable center role, Duverne’s return could jeopardize Nicolas Pallois’s position, who is 36 years old. The only two players occupying beds at the Nantes infirmary are Bastien Meupiyou (knee) and long-term ACL victim Ignatius Ganago; the latter’s absence ensures that Mostafa Mohamed will start again at forward.
Lyon 2 – 0 Nantes
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