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Toulouse FC vs. Olympique Lyonnais

Matchday 14, Ligue 1 – 2012-13

Preheat the oven

A cloudy sky forecast over Toulouse notwithstanding, trust Lyon to visit Stadium Municipal de Toulouse tonight dazed with happiness and looking for rainbows in the skies.

Not much has gone wrong for OL this season, apart from the opinions of the detractors of the club. Help has been coming in from all corners of the pitch. Hell, even Maxime Gonalons is up two goals this month in the league and a free agent in Malbranque has conjured up 5 assists till date!

Apply some sauce to the base

Mr. Remi Garde, expect an irked Toulouse team, pink with envy (well, they change their colours for nobody’s clichés). While Lyon has picked up 3 wins and two draws in the last five games in all competitions, Toulouse has been tripping over with 1 win and 4 losses in their last five. The failure to build on a very solid start which got TFC to the No. 2 spot after week 10 sees them reeling on No.9 currently, six points away from Lyon, which also has a match in hand. Given the cagey nature of L1 this season, every point and goal difference advantage is worth fighting for, not just for a place in Europe, but for the monies too.

Add toppings; Fire it all up in the oven

Lyon will want to do better than its recent past has. Not talking of the last four away games (all draws).

But generally, a Toulouse trip schedule would presumably be followed by “Aww, do we haaave to?” in the Lyonnais dressing rooms. I wouldn’t blame them. 2005! Just after Michael Essien left was the last victory to be had there! Somehow, the Toulouse goal is always really far away from the OL half in both halves of the game. Some grounds man trickery is on, I say! How else would a fan explain Lyon scoring ZERO goals in the last 6 games there? Do not let them run riot again please.

Its. Musts. Bes. Stopped.

s.

Open the oven door periodically, then curse yourself for letting hot air escape.

In other news, Zlatan Ibrahimovich is clubbing clubs like it’s nobody else’s business. 12 goals from 12 games. Pushed us to number 3 provisionally. Happy are you, Ancelotti?

The Marseille Tie that got postponed due to a blood relative of Windy Sandy, is scheduled to be played out on Nov 28! I have always (since the last five minutes) thought a midweek Olympico gives it all the attention it really should garner. Montpellier match follows that on Dec 1.

Mere 12 points separate the first 18 teams in Ligue 1 currently. Basically, getting 1 point per game in France sends teams to the relegation zone. Nice. (No, not the team. That one is doing okay.)

Maxime Gonalons has played every minute of every match OL has played in the league thus far.

And back to the match at hand.

Ting! Add garnish, some quick food spray, and serve

The Lyonnais attack better be excited about the opportunity tonight. Of the 23 goals scored in the league so far, only 5 were scored playing away. Also, I do hope there is a quiet follow-up today of the youth-showing that the Sparta trip really was. Gomis and Lisandro must be plenty rested, and will likely cause nuisance to enemy camps in all three matches in the week (Toulouse, Marseille, Montpellier). Lisandro staying fit and available for long periods of time is a great sign. The team is doing well overall (well, the defence not so much lately), so that makes me think a winter outgoing transfer will be counter-productive and somewhat loss-making. Remi Garde needs to put his foot down on an unnecessary transfer. Unless he knows a few Malbranque relatives who are just as good. And unless Aulas wants Sergio Ramos for Reveillere.

Your pizza is served. At Toulouse.Yeah.

What would be an acceptable scoreline : Toulouse 1 – 2 Lyon

Allez l’OL!

Go laugh out loud!

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Category: Ligue 1