Duty Free Football: Monaco vs. Lyon

By: Inara | November 7th, 2008

Claude Puel has more on his mind than just the three points up for grabs in Monaco this weekend. He’s got a squad that’s still exhausted from their efforts against Steaua, he has a run of gauntlet games coming up this entire month, and he’s hyper aware of the fact that he needs to avoid injuries to players as much as possible. So it’ll be interesting to see how Lyon handle this game.

November 7, 2008
Stade Louis II, Monaco
1 PM ET (19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT)

Match background:

Monaco, after having a fairly good start to their season, found their form suddenly plummeting, and they’ve spent the last couple of weeks close to the relegation zone. But they won their last two matches, and consensus seems to be that they’ve found their footing again.

They have many talented players, so I won’t even bother listing all of them. But the players to especially be wary of are Camel Meriem, Serge Gapke, Frederic Nimani, and Chu Young Park, their new Korean striker. Flavio Roma is also on the roster, though he’s taken a back seat to the very talented Stephane Ruffier. Also at Monaco is Freddy Adu (possibly the most hyped American prospect ever). As an American myself, I’d welcome the chance to see how Adu holds up against my beloved Lyon, but he’s only played 46 minutes in the league all season so far, so it doesn’t look likely.

So far this season, Monaco are in 13th place and have accumulated four wins, four draws, and four losses. They’ve scored 12 goals and conceded 12. Apparently, they like their mathematical balances.

Lyon have already faced Monaco once this season, in a pre-season friendly that Lyon lost 1-0. Monaco also have a really good home record against Lyon – in the 44 times that Monaco have welcomed OL, they’ve won 28 times, drawn 7, and lost 9. One of those rare Lyon victories happened last season, a thumping 3-0 win.

Right now, Lyon are in 1st place, four points ahead of second placed Marseille. So even if Lyon lose tomorrow, they won’t lose their place in the table. Though given the tough fixtures in the next few weeks – Bordeaux, PSG, Bayern, Fiorentina, and Marseille, Lyon need all the points they can get. They’ve scored 18 goals and conceded 8, with the third best offense and the best defense in the league.

Lyon info:

No new injuries to report. Miralem Pjanic is as far away from the training ground as he can be. Francois Clerc is getting better, and while he’s still far from ready to play, he’s seen the light at the end of the tunnel (or so claims the Lyon website). John Mensah’s progress is also looking positive, and though no date has been set for his return, it shouldn’t be too long now. No word yet on Mathieu Bodmer.

Juninho and Kader Keita, while not injured, are being given an extra day of rest and so won’t be making the trip to Monaco. I don’t know about Keita, but this is good for Juni, who even when he’s supposed to be rested, often finds himself being subbed in when Lyon are losing a match. So this way, even if Lyon do lose, Puel can’t give into the temptation of playing him.

Le groupe lyonnais: Lloris, Vercoutre – Grosso, Boumsong, Cris, Faure, Réveillère, Gassama – Toulalan, Fabio Santos, Källström, Makoun – Govou, Ederson, Delgado, Mounier, Benzéma, Fred, Piquionne.

But look who is on the list. SIDNEY GOVOU. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ve missed him. It’ll be nice knowing that he’s available, especially since Keita is out.

Expected lineup:

I expect to see a return of the 4-4-2, especially since Juninho is out. At least I hope so. There is no reason we need to play so cautiously against Monaco.

Lloris
Reveillere – Cris – Boumsong – Grosso
Govou – Makoun – Kallstrom – Delgado
Fred – Benzema

It’s possible that Anthony Reveillere will be given a much deserved rest, with Lamine Gassama taking his place. But Monaco has dangerous wingers, and I think it more likely that Puel will wait until next week’s Coupe de la Ligue match to start Gassama and rest Reveillere. Fabio Grosso could also use the rest, but there isn’t anyone to replace him besides Reveillere. Oh to be a Lyon fullback.

In midfield, Puel might rest Jeremy Toulalan, who was by far the most active OL player against Steaua. Jean II Makoun should be able to be the sole DM, and if Kim Kallstrom plays next to him, he’ll get some help defensively if necessary but can also free up Kallstrom for a more attacking role. Cesar Delgado really deserves a start – I don’t think anyone can argue against that. Ederson was also terrific last game, but might want to let Sidney Govou ease back into playing after such a long layoff.

Up front, it’ll probably be Fred, who didn’t play at all against Steaua, and Karim Benzema, who was taken off midway through the second half. So hopefully they’ll be able to work on developing their partnership.

Viewing options:

I’m hoping there will be links available. If you subscribe to OLWEBTV, full games are available at the end of the weekend, and they also offer live audio commentary, which may or may not be free, it seems to change every other week.

Expected results:

It smells like a draw. 1-1.