PSG vs. Lyon

By: Inara | November 21st, 2008

Sorry for the short preview, but it’s been a crazy week for me. To keep things short, Lyon are traveling to Paris tomorrow, and three days later, they will be traveling to Fiorentina for a crucial Champions League match. Unfortunately, Lyon’s injury list continues to grow, so it will be difficult for Puel to continue implementing his rotation policy to keep his players fresh.

November 22, 2008
Parc de Princes, Paris
3 PM ET (21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT)

Match background:

PSG and Lyon have their own special and rather acrimonious relationship. Lyon are constantly doing their best to destabilize PSG while PSG are doing their best to lure away discontented OL players. There are several former Lyon players currently at PSG, most notably Jeremy Clement, Peguy Luyindula, and Ludovic Giuly. Their manager, Paul Le Guen, led Lyon to three domestic titles.

PSG have a whole host of talented players, also including Jerome Rothen, Sylvain Armand, Guillaume Hoarau, Claude Makelele, Mateja Kezman, Stephane Sessegnon, Clement Chantome, and Mickael Landreau. They’ve also got some very promising youngsters Mamadou Sakho and Younousse Sankhare.

PSG are currently in 8th place, with 16 goals scored and 12 conceded. Their top scorer is Hoarau, who is currently the second leading scorer in L1. They are also competing in the UEFA Cup, but that is not a top priority for the club.

Lyon have a so-so record in Paris, with only six wins, nine draws, and thirteen losses. Lyon are in 1st place, nine points ahead of Marseille. They’ve scored 21 goals and conceded only 9. Karim Benzema is the leading scorer with nine goals, so Hoarau is hot on his heels. With Fiorentina looming around the corner, and in the midst of an overly congested fixture schedule, Lyon may find it difficult to cope with so many demands.

Lyon info:

In addition to the current list of injured players, including Miralem Pjanic, Francois Clerc, Mathieu Bodmer (who is undergoing surgery next Monday), and Fabio Santos, Cesar Delgado will also be out for two weeks due to a muscle pull. Fabio Grosso picked up a knock during international duty and will also be missing tomorrow’s match. Furthermore, Jeremy Toulalan and Karim Benzema are still uncertain despite being among the players traveling to Paris.

Le groupe lyonnais: Lloris, Vercoutre – Gassama, Réveillère, Mensah, Cris, Boumsong, Kolo, Faure – Juninho, Toulalan, Makoun, Källström, Ederson – Govou, Keita, Fred, Piquionne, Benzema, Mounier.

Good news is that John Mensah is back and may be starting tomorrow. But don’t get too used to the idea, he’ll probably get hurt tying his shoes while warming up before the game. With Grosso out, Timothee Kolodzieczak makes the bench, as does Lamine Gassama. And even though Mensah is back, Puel has also called up Sebastien Faure.

Tactical lineup:

Puel started with the 4-4-2 against Bordeaux, but it didn’t work, and so he had to revert back to the 4-3-3. I’m guessing Puel will stick with the 4-4-2 again this time, though it may simply have to do with the fact that there are more attackers than defenders and defensive midfielders available.

Lloris
Gassama – Cris – Mensah – Reveillere
Govou – Makoun – Kallstrom – Ederson
Fred – Benzema

Grosso is out, so that leaves only Anthony Reveillere able to deputize, which means Lamine Gassama has another chance on the right. With John Mensah fit again, Puel may opt to start him alongside of Cris. If not, he might choose to stay with Jean-Alain Boumsong, who is more in form and match fit (in order to be ready for Fiorentina).

In midfield, with Jeremy Toulalan slightly iffy and Juninho still tired, I’d like to see him on the bench. Surely Jean II Makoun, partnered with an on fire Kim Kallstrom, would be enough for PSG. Sidney Govou looks likely to start, and on the left, my guess would be Ederson. Up front, Fred and Karim Benzema.

Viewing options:

For the second week in a row, this match will be on Setanta and Setanta Broadband! You can also find streams here.

Expected results:

Lyon are too tired for a resounding win. I’m guessing a 1-1 draw.