Lille vs Lyon : Just how strong are we?

Beaten fair and square in Madrid on Tuesday (0-4), the Olympique Lyonnais faces its toughest resilience test today. In order not to lose confidence in itself and sink into pessimism, the club must avoid a defeat in the stadium where the Champion of France, Lille, is waiting for it. So, even if the LOSC also suffered a big setback against Inter Milan this week, this encounter definitely is the clash of the 11th L1 matchday.

Post CL-trauma recovery at home for Lille?
The LOSC, beaten at home by Inter on Tuesday (0-1), can make a nice move in the event of a victory against Olympique Lyonnais, for they would reach the podium for the first time this season.
Currently 4th, just one point behind Lyon (3d), this game is a golden opportunity to get pas them. Is there a better therapy against a direct competitor? With a series of 5 wins and 3 draws so far, the LOSC made a good recovery in L1, and were in a good dynamic before the Inter game, having managed to forget their poor September, during which Rudi Garcia’s men lost so many valuable points.

Or post CL-trauma away recovery for Lyon?
For OL, the prospect of the trip is a cause for concern. First, the cheeks still hurt after the Madrid slapping. Second, whilst OL does well at Gerland, where everything goes so well (20 L1 matches without defeat ), that’s not the case when playing away. Rémi Garde’s men remain with three defeats without a single goal scored in their last three trips: Caen 0-1, 0-2 in Paris, 0-4 in Madrid. In a way, given the limits of a young and inexperienced team decimated by injuries, it seems the Lyonnais have accepted they didn’t belong to the same league as Real Madrid, and therefore, the clash with Lille seems more important that competing with Real for the top spot of the group.

So the much needed remobilization is the role of the technical staff, and of the senior players. Unfortunately – it would have been a huge boost to have the Argentine talisman back – for the tenth straight game in all competitions, Lyon will be without Lisandro. But others are back and expected to take over as catalysts (Kallström, and also Cris, Gourcuff even if their chances to start are thin). This time, the Lyonnais, who have not won an away game since September 10 in Dijon (2-1) and have not been too good lately defensively (7 goals conceded) nor offensively (0 goal scored in four L1 and C1 games) would just be happy with a mere 1-0.

The Lille group :
Landreau – Balmont, Basa ,Beria, Bonnart, Chedjou, Cole, De Melo, Debuchy, Enyeama, Gueye, Hazard, Jelen, Mavuba, Obraniak, Payet, Pedretti, Rozenhal, Sow

The OL group:
Lloris, Vercoutre – Réveillère, Cris, Dabo, Cissokho, Lovren B. Koné, S. Koné, Källström, Gonalons, Briand, Belfodil, Lacazette, Ederson, Gomis, Bastos, Gourcuff, Fofana.

Allez l’OL !

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Category: Team News and Rumors