Auxerre have a chance to defeat Lyon in a Ligue 1 affair for the first time in over a decade when the two sides face off at Stade de l'Abbe Deschamps on Friday.
Last weekend, AJA extended their winless run in the top flight to 10 consecutive matches, drawing Angers 1-1 as they remain in the relegation zone, while OL are unbeaten in four successive domestic outings, defeating Lens 2-1 on Sunday.
Match preview
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Try as they might, nothing seems to be working for Auxerre domestically this season, as they find themselves four points behind Troyes in the race to remain in Ligue 1 beyond 2022-23.
On Sunday, the club from Burgundy were their own worst enemy, scoring an own goal two minutes into their match against last-place Angers and squandering an opportunity to claim three points when they missed a penalty kick in injury time.
There was a lot of excitement among the Auxerre supporters heading into their first Ligue 1 campaign in over a decade, but their current domestic season is looking eerily similar to their previous one in 2011-12, with AJA currently on their longest winless run in the top-flight since failing to triumph in 12 successive encounters between December 2011 and March 2012.
Christophe Pelissier has only picked up one victory in his 11 domestic fixtures at the helm following the sacking of Jean-Marc Furlan in early October, with his men conceding in all but one of his league games since taking charge.
So far this season, Auxerre have given up 47 goals in the top flight, the second-most behind only Angers (48), though all three of their clean sheets in this competition have come at home.
Two of their three triumphs in Ligue 1 this season have also come at Stade de l'Abbe Deschamps, although they have only beaten Lyon at home twice this century, the last time being during the 2010-11 campaign, when they won 4-0.
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Things are steadily progressing at Lyon as Laurent Blanc has his side playing perhaps their best football of the campaign, one result away from equalling their longest unbeaten run in Ligue 1 this season (five games).
Their recent triumph over Lens was the first for them this season versus a side currently in the top four after losing their first four matches of that kind previously versus Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Marseille and Lens.
Olympique Lyonnais have won three of their four encounters played in Ligue 1 this season against newly-promoted sides, with their worst outing being a 1-1 draw against Toulouse last October, while defeating Auxerre at home back in August (2-1).
Lyon have held Auxerre off the scoresheet in three of their previous four visits to Stade de l'Abbe Deschamps, winning their last match played there, 3-0 in November 2011.
Coming into this encounter, Les Gones are unbeaten in five successive road matches in all competitions, outscoring their opponents by a margin of 12-3 over that stretch.
While they find themselves six points off a place in Europe next season, there is a massive opportunity for them to make up that ground in the coming weeks, facing the bottom two clubs in Ligue 1 in successive weeks (Auxerre and Angers) and then battling Lorient, Lille and Nantes in March, with the first two being ahead of them in the table right now.
Team News
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Kays Ruiz-Atil is expected to miss the next few weeks for Auxerre because of an illness, as is Siriki Dembele due to a hand injury.
Matthis Abline fired home the equaliser from the penalty spot on Sunday, 20 minutes after an own goal from Rayan Raveloson put them behind, though the man on loan from Rennes missed from the spot in the latter stages of the game with the score nodded at 1.
Mathias Autret, meanwhile, had the only goal for AJA versus Lyon at the end of August but it came with his side already down by two as they went on to lose.
Albine and Nuno Da Costa are the only Auxerre players who have found the back of the net for them domestically all year, while Ionut Radu, on loan from Inter Milan, collected a clean sheet in his previous domestic home fixture when his side drew Reims 0-0.
Malo Gusto remains sidelined for Lyon because of a hamstring strain, while Jeffinho did not play in their match versus Lens either, as he is still suffering from an ankle injury.
Alexandre Lacazette, who is tied for second in Ligue 1 scoring with 14 goals, has one in each of his last three matches in all competitions, while Rayan Cherki put home his third of the campaign on Sunday, which proved to be the winner.
Anthony Lopes has five clean sheets for Lyon this season, posting three so far in 2023, Moussa Dembele is searching for his first goal of the year after leading them with 21 last season, while Amin Sarr continues to search for his first at OL since signing from Heerenveen in January.
Auxerre possible starting lineup:
Radu; Zedadka, Jubal, I. Toure, Mensah; B. Toure, Massengo; Hein, Sakhi, Da Costa; Abline
Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Lukeba, Lovren, Diomande; Tagliafico, Tolisso, Caqueret, Kumbedi; Lepenant; Lacazette, Sarr
We say: Auxerre 1-2 Lyon
Homefield has not been much of an advantage for the Burgundy club, who have been inconsistent and disorganised at the back through most of the campaign, and a striker as deadly as Lacazette in the attacking third will likely make them pay.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
