Opening the 22nd day of Ligue 1, Olympique Lyonnais hosts AS Saint-Etienne this Friday (9 p.m.), on the occasion of a traditional derby. The two teams, in poor form, will try to impose themselves to push the enemy a little further.
Admittedly, the derby will not be played on a Sunday evening, nor in a sold-out Groupama Stadium, due to the restrictive measures linked to Covid-19. In the meantime, the Ligue 1 shock between Olympique Lyonnais and AS Saint-Etienne still keeps all its promises. And this for many reasons.
On the one hand, because the two teams will want to establish their domination on the scale of the region, but also because the two formations seek to get out, with however a difference of scale, of negative spirals. Les Gones, they remain in effect on a victory against Troyes (1-0). But this one was not flamboyant, and above all represents OL’s first success since November.
The band of Peter Bosz, still deprived of their attackers Toko Ekambi, Kadewere and Slimani (CAN), but also of Emerson Palmieri (sick) or Denayer (injured) will therefore seek to reassure themselves definitively. To go up from a sad 11th place in the standings.
For its part, theASSE is not in better form, far from it. Despite a successful performance against Lens (1-2) last weekend, the Greens were finally overthrown and conceded their sixth consecutive defeat in the league. Pascal Dupraz’s men are bottom of the championship and have no choice but to take points now, to hope to stay in the top flight for this second half of the season.
While Mangala, expected as the new central defense boss, has not yet officially signed and will therefore not be available for the derby, like Khazri (CAN), Bernardoni and Thioub should play a second game in a row. And given the symbolic importance of this match, the final result, whether positive or negative, will undoubtedly have a great impact on the rest of the season for the Loire team…
This Ligue 1 meeting promises to be magnificent, with two teams capable of the best and the worst. Given the symbolic issue, but also accounting, with an obligation for both teams to win (despite separate places in the standings), the tension should be strong and the meeting electric.
Despite everything, if ASSE risks displaying unfailing generosity, we still imagine OL winning. Because the Gones have shown that they can raise their level of play in big games and still have a more complete workforce. With the beautiful form of Paqueta in particular. Therefore, we predict a tight 2-1 success for the Lyonnais.