#BulldozeBordeauxTonight

Olympique Lyonnais vs. Girondins de Bordeaux

Stade Municipal de Gerland

…oooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllll!! But de Licha!

Talk about goal hangovers. Scoring in the final moments of the match at Lille on Week 6 of the season meant Lisandro was one of 8 Argentines to get on the scoresheets in clubs around the world. The game didn’t have much to take home otherwise. {Insert fresh from Europa League game excuse here}

Somehow, tonight’s match against Bordeaux will be tougher than that against Lille. Both Lyon and Bordeaux are unbeaten after 6 games. Since QSG is in cruise control mode and gobbling up 3 points with Zlatan (Ka-ching!) Ibrahimovic, we can ill-afford to drop any points at home tonight. Sorry GdB, it’s not going to be pleasant!

OL! How be ye?

Rémi Garde is expected to go with the 4-3-3 again today. Wait. Make that 1-4-3-3. Indeed, how could we forget the other Rémy! I’m thinking the neat performance against Lille must have extended Vercoutre’s retirement age by a few decades already.

Michel Bastos is finaaaally back; again. I hear fans have begun calling for steel stirrups be installed in his oft-injured back. Brasil 2014! You do want to make the World Cup, right? Most of the team sans Gourcuff is in good shape. Grenier is taking up Gourcuff’s place quite well, though I wonder why he was given little time on the pitch in the last game. Mvuemba was given a chance, but I think we’ll need to see more of him to form opinions of form. Luciano Monzon needs more time in the midst as well, and quickly would be the way to go. Malbranque, Lacazette, Gomis are all showing quality.

This time, unlike the last few times at Home, the very real threat of a stumble comes from the visiting team. Bordeaux are with an unbeaten run of their own. Even though they have drawn their last four games, the unbeaten streak goes back 16 games in all competitions and to early April in Ligue 1! Bafetimbi Gomis will want to look up his own youtube videos of goals against Bordeaux for he scored a few against them last season. Their performance in the Europa League was dominant, with a 4-0 win against Club Brugge. A Newcastle challenge awaits them this Thursday, and for GdB tonight will be the worst time for a long streak to be broken.

But who’s in the lineups and who’s out contesting the Big Bang theory?

Both Lisandro and Gomis should be up at the top of the field because we need them to do well. Should Gomis get efficient, this will be easy. Mvuemba may be given an encore, while Gonalons-Malbranque has become somewhat of a regular feature now. Because Bastos is returning from injury only now, he may be used only as a substitute, so Briand should be given the go-ahead. And of the combinations possible in centre of defense, Bisevac and Lovren are expected to pair up at the back again.

Bordeaux has a lot of regulars present too. Carrasso, Henrique, Planus, Tremoulinas, danger man Plasil, Obraniak, Jussie, Gouffran are all present. Heck I almost spelt out their entire lineup. Safe to say it will be a challenge. But wishful thinking begs it be nothing more!

Possible Team Lineups:

Lyon : Vercoutre – Réveillère, Bisevac, Lovren, Dabo – Mvuemba, Gonalons, Malbranque – Briand , Gomis, Lisandro

Bordeaux : Carrasso – Mariano, Henrique, Planus, Trémoulinas – Sané, Plasil – Obraniak, Jussiê, Saivet – Gouffran

Allez! Allez Les Gones!

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Category: Team News and Rumors