Lyon vs. Lorient

By: Inara | September 12th, 2009

I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve used this international break to take a step away from football before things get all crazy again. With our first CL group stage match against Fiorentina around the corner, the next couple of weeks promise to be really busy. But before we can even think about Europe, we have to take care of Lorient tomorrow. It’s imperative that Lyon continue their steady progress and also not lose sight of Bordeaux, especially so early in the Championnat.

September 12, 2009
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
1 PM ET (19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT)

Match background:

Lorient have faced Lyon at home in the league only five times in their history (they’ve only been a top flight club in the past few years). Of those five occasions, three were Lyon wins and two were draws. However, none of those games were goalfests – in fact, Lyon have never scored more than two goals against them in league matches. I don’t expect too much to change because Lorient’s defense isn’t that bad, and Lyon have to make sure they keep themselves fresh for next Wednesday.

Lorient are currently in seventh place, with two wins, one draw, and one defeat. They’ve scored five goals and conceded five. Their top scorer with two goals each is Marama Vahirua and Kevin Gameiro. Both are fast and are more than capable of beating opposing defenders when they’re in the mood (other times, not so much). They have Olivier Monterrubio in midfield and Fabien Audard between the posts. Their coach is Christian Gourcuff, the daddy of his way more popular son, Yoann.

The space separating Lyon from Lorient on the table isn’t that great at the moment, though it’s only the fifth game of the season. Lyon are tied on points with Bordeaux and PSG but third place on the table due to goal differential. So far, Lyon have scored nine goals and conceded three. OL’s top two scorers are Lisandro Lopez and Bafetimbi Gomis, with two goals each.

Lyon info:

I’m sure you’ve all heard the news – Jean-Alain Boumsong will be absent for at least one month due to a groin injury. Coupled with the fact that Cleber Anderson is still recovering from his calf injury, Lyon have only two healthy CBs at the moment. Terrific. Ederson is still out, and joining him will be Lisandro Lopez, who picked up a slight knock during Argentina’s World Cup qualifiers.

Le groupe lyonnais: Lloris, Vercoutre – Cris, Bodmer, Réveillère, Cissokho, Clerc, Seguin – Toulalan, Källström, Gonalons, Makoun, Pjanic, Delgado – Govou, Belfodil, Bastos, Gomis

The somewhat good news is that Sidney Govou is healthy again and will be among the players that Puel will have available. Ishak Belfodil continues to enjoy his rather meteoric rise (while Yannis Tafer is once again left behind), as does Maxime Gonalans.

Expected Lineup:

With Fiorentina in a couple of days, Puel will be doing what he can to rest his players, but with so many absences, he might not have a great deal of choice. He can’t do anything about his CBs or his LB (it’s not like we have a lot of depth!), but at RB, there are options. It seems reasonable to assume Francois Clerc will start – he’s been injured since before the season started and so hasn’t played in a competitive game yet, but Puel might choose to start Anthony Reveillere to make sure he is match day sharp against Fiorentina.

In midfield, Jeremy Toulalan, Jean II Makoun, Miralem Pjanic, and Kim Kallstrom all saw action during international week. Theoretically, any combination of them could play, though I think it’s more likely that Toulalan will be the one being rested. Kallstrom has also been playing really well recently, so Puel may opt to either rest him or keep him on the pitch for a limited time.

Up front, it’s obvious that Cesar Delgado and Sidney Govou will start alongside of Bafetimbi Gomis (not much depth in CF either…). It seems probable that Michel Bastos will sit out, but he was well rested this past week, so Puel might decide to give him some game time as well.

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Expected results:

I think a sedate 1-0 looks likely. I’d like to think our defense is strong enough to hold back Lorient (it better be if they plan to get out of the CL group stages!), but I don’t see many goals coming. Not because of Lisandro’s absence, but because the team plays differently with Govou on the pitch.