Lyon vs. Valenciennes, aka Champions League Warm Up

By: Inara | November 2nd, 2007

This Saturday’s match against Valenciennces is Alain Perrin’s last chance to get his squad straightened out before welcoming Stuttgart the following Wednesday in another very crucial do or die Champions League match (but more on that later).

November 3rd, 2007
Stade de Gerland, Lyon
3 PM Eastern Time (20:00 in France)

Match background:

Valenciennes are one of those unremarkable clubs that tend to stay in the top flight but will occasionally visit the second division. They are a solid mid table team coached by an equally solid manager (former player Antoine Kombouare). Their goal for the season? Trying to get a UEFA Cup spot. In the early part of the season they were in the top three but have since drifted down the rankings to 9th place. With five wins, three draws, and four losses, they have scored and conceded the same amount of goals, at 14.

Their roster doesn’t sport any eye-catching players, and their two best players, Steve Savidan and Johan Audel, have notched only three and five league goals, respectively. But Savidan scored against Lyon last year and almost ended as L1’s top scorer last season (with 13 goals…). Audel left Lille this summer and seems to be doing well at Valenciennes. A quick, pacy player, he can be trouble.

Valenciennes make up for their lack of glamor with the dreaded style of tactics known as “defense.” Last season they came to Lyon and held off the team for 75 minutes and even opened the scoring. But OL persevered, thanks to headers by Cris and Sebastian Squillaci. Valenciennces will undoubtedly come to Lyon intending to do the same thing - keep ten men behind the ball.

As for Lyon, they will be aiming for their fifth straight league win, which will boost them considerably for their next game against Stuttgart. Since Lyon lost to Rangers, they have been scoring steadily, notching three goals per game (except in Stuttgart, where they scored only two). While they are the undisputed leaders, they will be looking to widen the gap between first and second.

Lyon info:

Besides the long term injuries, Lyon will still be without Patrick Muller this Saturday. But have no fear, he’s been training normally and will play with the reserves this weekend. If all goes well, he may be on the list of players for Stuttgart. Jeremy Toulalan spent his training this morning just running. He wasn’t ready to practice with the rest of the team, so we won’t be seeing him this Saturday.

Fabio Grosso’s participation is 50% possible since he’s still suffering foot cramps. We probably won’t see Milan Baros this Saturday either since his thigh muscle is still tender. Additionally, Hatem Ben Arfa, who picked up a small ankle sprain against Caen, will also sit out on Saturday to be ready for Stuttgart.

Le groupe lyonnais: Vercoutre, Roux, Clerc, Réveillère, Grosso, C.Anderson, Squillaci, Belhadj, Beynié, Bodmer, Fabio Santos, Källström, Juninho, Govou, Keita, Benzema, Rémy, Fred.

Perrin will have one eye on next Wednesday and will use his players accordingly. He will want to give his best players rest, especially if they played last Wednesday. Anderson will be available because he already sat out his suspension against Caen.

Expected lineup:

Vercoutre
Clerc - Squillaci - Bodmer - Belhadj
Juninho - Fabio Santos - Kallstrom
Keita - Fred - Govou

There aren’t many options here, so I can’t see Perrin deviating too far from this. Anthony Reveillere played last Wednesday, and given that he’s been better than Francois Clerc this season, Perrin will probably save him for Stuttgart. If Grosso doe sit out, there is no choice but to use Nadir Belhadj . Kader Keita will also start, though perhaps he can sub Keita later to give Loic Remy some time.

Also, Fred needs to get used to playing, whereas Karim Benzema will most likely start against Stuttgart. So Perrin might put in Benzema in the second half. Now that Anderson can return to his place in the back four, Mathieu Bodmer can return to midfield. But Perrin sounded really shady about Bodmer in his press conference, saying that night now, Bodmer is a better defender than a midfielder because he’s missing “automisms.” So I think we will see Juninho and Kim Kallstrom start next to Fabio Santos, with Bodmer getting time in the second half. Though best would be if Juninho was allowed to rest, which would mean that Bodmer and Kallstrom could play together.

Viewing options:

This site will have some streams for you. Just check there an hour before the game starts. I will also try to put up match links before the game.

Expected Result:

I’ll be happy with a 1-0.