Lyon take on Saint-Etienne on Sunday as the 2020-21 Ligue 1 campaign continues, with the hosts looking to gain ground on the top four.
St Etienne, meanwhile, have astonishingly lost five matches in a row, so Claude Puel will be desperate to stop the rot at the Groupama Stadium.
Match preview
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It has been a mixed start for Rudi Garcia's side, who showed their capabilities in August by knocking out Juventus and Manchester City to reach the semi-final of the Champions League.
After being seventh prior to the curtailment of all French football last season due to the coronavirus pandemic, though, Lyon have no European football to contend with this season so are looking to use that to their advantage to get back into a Champions League qualification position.
It has not quite turned out that way yet, with too many draws halting their progression up the table. Discipline has been an issue, with Marcelo sent off in last weekend's 1-1 draw at Lille and Melvin Bard also given his marching orders in the previous match against Monaco.
However, Garcia's side are unbeaten since matchday three, showing their resolve in earning the draw at Lille despite having a man disadvantage for the majority of the second half. The 56-year-old will be looking to turn those draws into wins, starting with Sunday against a St Etienne side who know little different to defeat at present.
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Indeed, not for the first time in his managerial career, Puel is under intense pressure after leading his side to five consecutive defeats.
It is a good job his side earned 10 points from their first four matches; hypothetically, if you turned just one of those early wins into a draw instead, St Etienne would currently lie in the relegation zone.
Les Verts were dismal when losing 1-0 at home to Montpellier last week, failing to register a shot on target for the second match running having also failed to test Metz goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja the previous weekend.
It is certainly not the best time for Puel and his men to be heading to a Lyon side packed with quality in attacking areas, then, with forwards Memphis Depay and Toko Ekambi scoring nine league goals between them already this season.
Lyon Ligue 1 form: DDDWWD
Saint-Etienne Ligue 1 form: DLLLLL
Team News
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Garcia will be without defender Marcelo after his red card at Lille, but otherwise appears to be in the enviable position of a full squad to choose from.
Moussa Dembele only came off the bench in that draw and Garcia may be tempted to utilise a front three of him, Depay and Ekambi as he looks to turn draws into wins.
Puel, meanwhile, is without Yvann Macon for the foreseeable future, with the full-back rupturing his cruciate ligament. Yvan Neyou is at risk of a suspension having reached four yellow cards already.
With his side looking so insipid offensively of late, the 59-year-old may be tempted to shake things up in attacking areas.
Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Dubois, Denayer, Diomande, Cornet; Paqueta, Mendes, Aouar; Ekambi, Dembele, Depay
Saint-Etienne possible starting lineup:
Moulin; Moueffek, Sow, Kolodziejczak, Silva; Youssouf, Neyou, Camara; Benkhedim, Hamouma, Khazri
We say: Lyon 3-0 Saint-Etienne
With St Etienne failing to test the opposition goalkeeper in their last two matches against worse opposition than Lyon, we cannot see anything beyond a comfortable home win.
Depay and Dembele should have too much in tandem for a side bereft of confidence to handle.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home Win:data
Brett Curtis
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Lyon win with a probability of 57.97%. A draw had a probability of 23.6% and a win for Saint-Etienne had a probability of 18.41%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lyon win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.06%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.26%) and 2-1 (9.64%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.17%), while for a Saint-Etienne win it was 0-1 (6.48%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Lyon would win this match.
