Olympique Lyon vs Paris Saint-Germain: Match preview and prediction
Olympique Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain clash at the Parc OL on Sunday evening in after encouraging midweek results in UEFA Champions League.
Matches between Olympique Lyon and PSG are always among the highlights of the Ligue 1 season, and this Sunday’s clash also ranks amongst the top fixtures across Europe this weekend. This is a huge game for both teams – defending champions Paris Saint-Germain came into the weekend three points behind Ligue 1 leaders OGC Nice in third spot, while Lyon started the weekend in fourth spot, but seven points behind their opponents and only three points better off than Toulouse FC in eighth.
While PSG look to keep the pressure firmly on Nice and AS Monaco, Lyon are in danger of losing touch with the teams above them, and their hopes of Champions League football next season are therefore already under serious threat.
A look at the form guide provides plenty of reasons for optimism for both clubs, however. Lyon are on their best run of the campaign so far, with a five-match unbeaten sequence featuring four wins and a creditable 1-1 draw away to Italian champions Juventus.
Bruno Genesio’s men have won three on the bounce in Ligue 1, including a 1-0 victory in Lille last time out. They are also still in with a chance of reaching the last 16 in the Champions League after a second-half goal by Alexandre Lacazette – his 11th of the season all told – secured a 1-0 win away to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia on Tuesday.
Questions remain about the standard to which Unai Emery’s side are performing but they are getting results. Since a calamitous 2-0 loss in Toulouse on September 23, Paris have gone 10 games unbeaten in all competitions, winning eight. They have taken 16 points from a possible 18 in Ligue 1 in that time, and on Wednesday they set themselves up to win their Champions League group by drawing 2-2 away to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. The result was largely immaterial as PSG have already qualified for the last 16 of that competition. However, their impressive performance indicated they are nearing their very best.
Head to Head
Paris have won on just one of their last 11 visits to Lyon on league duty. That was on the night they secured the league title in 2013. Last season they suffered their first defeat of the entire campaign when they went to the Parc OL for the very first time and went down 2-1 before a crowd of 56,662. PSG had gone unbeaten through their first 27 league games last season before that and had gone 36 without defeat altogether.
Paris have won on just one of their last 11 visits to Lyon on league duty. That was on the night they secured the league title in 2013. Last season they suffered their first defeat of the entire campaign when they went to the Parc OL for the very first time and went down 2-1 before a crowd of 56,662. PSG had gone unbeaten through their first 27 league games last season before that and had gone 36 without defeat altogether.
The clubs have already met this season, with PSG running out convincing 4-1 winners in the Trophée des Champions in Klagenfurt, Austria on August 6.
By David Taylor November 25th, 2016 15:49
cover
Team News
Olympique Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain
By David Taylor November 25th, 2016 15:49
cover
Matches between Olympique Lyon and PSG are always among the highlights of the Ligue 1 season, and this Sunday’s clash also ranks amongst the top fixtures across Europe this weekend. This is a huge game for both teams – defending champions Paris Saint-Germain came into the weekend three points behind Ligue 1 leaders OGC Nice in third spot, while Lyon started the weekend in fourth spot, but seven points behind their opponents and only three points better off than Toulouse FC in eighth.
While PSG look to keep the pressure firmly on Nice and AS Monaco, Lyon are in danger of losing touch with the teams above them, and their hopes of Champions League football next season are therefore already under serious threat.
A look at the form guide provides plenty of reasons for optimism for both clubs, however. Lyon are on their best run of the campaign so far, with a five-match unbeaten sequence featuring four wins and a creditable 1-1 draw away to Italian champions Juventus.
Bruno Genesio’s men have won three on the bounce in Ligue 1, including a 1-0 victory in Lille last time out. They are also still in with a chance of reaching the last 16 in the Champions League after a second-half goal by Alexandre Lacazette – his 11th of the season all told – secured a 1-0 win away to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia on Tuesday.
Questions remain about the standard to which Unai Emery’s side are performing but they are getting results. Since a calamitous 2-0 loss in Toulouse on September 23, Paris have gone 10 games unbeaten in all competitions, winning eight. They have taken 16 points from a possible 18 in Ligue 1 in that time, and on Wednesday they set themselves up to win their Champions League group by drawing 2-2 away to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. The result was largely immaterial as PSG have already qualified for the last 16 of that competition. However, their impressive performance indicated they are nearing their very best.
Head to Head
Paris have won on just one of their last 11 visits to Lyon on league duty. That was on the night they secured the league title in 2013. Last season they suffered their first defeat of the entire campaign when they went to the Parc OL for the very first time and went down 2-1 before a crowd of 56,662. PSG had gone unbeaten through their first 27 league games last season before that and had gone 36 without defeat altogether.
Paris have won on just one of their last 11 visits to Lyon on league duty. That was on the night they secured the league title in 2013. Last season they suffered their first defeat of the entire campaign when they went to the Parc OL for the very first time and went down 2-1 before a crowd of 56,662. PSG had gone unbeaten through their first 27 league games last season before that and had gone 36 without defeat altogether.
The clubs have already met this season, with PSG running out convincing 4-1 winners in the Trophée des Champions in Klagenfurt, Austria on August 6.
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Team News
Olympique Lyon
All eyes will be on his starting line-up against PSG after Mathieu Valbuena started in Zagreb while Nicolas Nkoulou and Sergi Darder also came in, with Mouctar Diakhaby, Corentin Tolisso and Maciej Rybus dropping out.
Nabil Fekir has not started either of OL’s last two matches. Meanwhile, Clément Grenier, Christophe Jallet and Rachid Ghezzal all missed the midweek game but have trained since. Competition for places is therefore fierce as Lyon look to burst the capital club’s ever-expanding bubble.
Paris Saint-Germain
Emery also has some big decisions to make regarding his line-up after Grzegorz Krychowiak made just his fifth start for the club in midweek and Matuidi played on the left of the front three with Ángel di María, Layvin Kurzawa, Javier Pastore and Adrien Rabiot all on the sidelines. Serge Aurier should return at right-back after missing the Arsenal game because he was denied entry to the United Kingdom.
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