Auxerre vs. Lyon

By: Inara | August 4th, 2007

The moment we have all been waiting for has arrived!

August 5, 2007
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
3:00 PM Eastern Time (21:00 in France)

Pre-match info:

Lyon begin their title defense by playing AJ Auxerre, accurately described as by Sam as a club that no one loves and no one hates (read Auxerre’s background here). They are coached by former OM manager Jean Fernandez, and while their ambitions don’t include the title or even Champions League qualification, a UEFA Cup spot isn’t out of their reach.

Auxerre lost some of their best players this summer. Younes Kaboul left for Tottenham, Bakary Sagna to Arsenal, and Benoit Cheyrou to Marseille. But they have been getting players too, most notably Marseille’s Toifilou Maoulida and Lyon’s Remy Riou. And don’t forget that they already have a great midfielder in Benoit Pedretti, as well as Ireneusz Jelen, Thomas Kalenberg, and Daniel Niculae who will add some flair.

They are a team that play solid football, and while they are unlikely to score more than one goal during a match, they are just as unlikely to concede more than one goal. Since tomorrow is the first day of L1, expect Auxerre to play more enthusiastically than usual.

On the Lyon side of things, Alain Perrin has selected eighteen players for this match. Missing are Fred, Gregory Coupet, Sebastien Squillaci, and Sylvain Wiltord (presumably left behind for being a bad boy).

Le groupe lyonnais: Vercoutre, Hartock, Belhadj, Grosso, Cris, Müller, Réveillère, Clerc, Toulalan, Fabio Santos, Juninho, Källström, Bodmer, Ben Arfa, Govou, Keita, Benzema, Baros.

Juninho and Nadir Belhadj are just returning from injuries, so they will probably be second half subs. It’s also a tossup as to whether Kim Kallstrom or Mathieu Bodmer will start (if the 4-4-2 has one major drawback, it’s that it can’t accommodate as many midfielders). Jeremy Toulalan will have one of the two spots for sure. My money would be on Kallstrom getting the second because not only did he perform so well during pre-season, but he hasn’t signed a contract extension yet (in fact, word on the street is that he may try to force his way out of Lyon). If Perrin is smart, he’ll let Kallstrom start to smooth any ruffled feathers.

For Remy Vercoutre, having Auxerre as his first challenge is a boon because they one of the less attacking teams in L1 (not that Auxerre should be taken lightly, they are still good). Given that Vercoutre’s only played in two pre-season games out of five (and in one of them he only played for 45 minutes), he isn’t in top form at the moment.

One of the other big questions is who will start on the left wing. Ben Arfa is the obvious choice, but Sidney Govou had an excellent game against Sochaux in that very position. I think it will be Govou, with Ben Arfa coming on later.

Expected lineup:

Vercoutre
Reveillere - Cris - Muller - Grosso
Keita - Toulalan - Kallstrom - Govou
Baros - Benzema

This will most likely be a fairly tight match. At best, Lyon will win 2-1, at worst, a 0-0 draw. Hopefully the Gerland will be full of fans cheering on their team to perform as best as they can.

The game will be broadcasted by Setanta and Canal+ for those of you who have it. It will also be streamed, so check here for links.

I would just like to end this by saying how much I’m looking forward to this next season. I suppose a cynical OL fan wouldn’t be as excited, especially given the transfer season so far. But I honestly believe that next year will be more thrilling than the last, with a Lyon team that promises to be more exciting, a coach who isn’t afraid of his ambitions, players that actually want to wear the OL jersey, and a lineup that will feature Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa regularly. What more can any fan ask for?

In fact, if there is a genuine title race this year, it’s because the other teams have gotten stronger (particularly Bordeaux, Marseille, and Lens), and not because Lyon have gotten weaker (they haven’t). So we should give those clubs the credit they deserve for carrying out a good mercato.

Happy L1, everyone!!!