Time to Hate St. Etienne Again (St. Etienne vs. Lyon)

By: Inara | January 26th, 2008

It’s one of my favorite times of the year as a football fan. Tomorrow, the Rhone-Alps rumble will be taking place, a game which is one of the hottest derbies in France. Along with Lille-Lens, you could say that Lyon vs. Saint-Etienne is THE derby of France.

I’ve already covered the derby’s background in a previous match preview, so check it out here. But basically, this is the derby between the rich and the poor, the aristocrats vs. the blue-collar workers, the industrialized vs. the traditional.

January 27, 2008
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint Etienne
2:55 PM ET (20:55 CET)

Match info:

As derbies go, this one can be considered unusual because Saint Etienne is 60 km away from Lyon (essentially a suburb of sorts). But keep in mind that in France, none of the teams in L1 have purely local derbies since each city has only one topflight team (including Paris). So if you are a fan of Arsenal-Spurs or Madrid-Atletico, you might be disappointed. France is still growing as a footballing nation, and right now, there are more spectators than supporters.

Still, there’s a great deal of hatred between the two clubs. The last time Lyon traveled to St. Etienne, the match had to be halted because of the smoke bombs thrown onto the pitch. And let’s not forget the charming tifos of the Stephanois which depicted Lyon players as animals that should be hunted. Rather sweet of them, don’t you think?

Some charming graffiti scrawled outside the Gerland. You can guess what it implies. Thanks to Kyle (L’Americain for this gem!).

Saint-Etienne (Les Verts) are more fortunate than most L1 teams because they are only missing three players for the African Cup of Nations, and only two of them are starters. Midfielder Bayal Sall is playing for Senegal, Siaka Tene is with the Ivory Coast, and their danger man, Pascal Feindouno, is captaining Guinea.

My perception of Saint-Etienne has always been that of a dangerous team going forward, especially since they possess a good deal of firepower. Despite missing Feindouno, Saint-Etienne can count on Ilan, Freddy Guarin, Dimitri Payet, Blaise Matuidi, and Bafetimbi Gomis.

Defensively, they are weaker, but they do have the incomparable Jeremie Janot in goal. There’s just no one else like him in France. However, unfortunately for Saint-Etienne, Janot will end up missing the derby due to a shoulder injury. But Ilan, Geoffrey Dernis, and Mouhamadou Dabo have been cleared for the clash.

In 13th place, Saint-Etienne’s sole goal this season is to finish midtable. With only eight wins out of a possible 22, they’ve conceded only 23 goals and have scored 22. It’s too much to ask them to nail a spot in Europe, which is sad considering that they hold the record in France of L1 titles won. Paul Marshall over at ESPN Soccernet said it best: Les Verts are living up to their nickname – they’re green because they have a low carbon footprint, mostly due to not traveling outside of France.

Lyon on the other hand have to win this game since Bordeaux are literally breathing down their necks. With only a three point lead, Lyon can’t afford any slip ups.

Lyon info:

Mathieu Bodmer and Sidney Govou are cleared to take part in the game. Bodmer felt muscle pain during last Wednesday’s match against Lorient and was taken off as a precaution. Govou has been out since the game against Nancy last December due to pulling a thigh muscle.

Le groupe lyonnais: Coupet, Vercoutre – Réveillère, Squillaci, Paillot, Grosso, Clerc – Bodmer, Källström, Toulalan, Crosas, Delgado – Ben Arfa, Mounier, Benzema, Rémy, Fred, Govou

Unfortunately, Juninho did not pass a late fitness test, so Perrin has decided to leave him out to give him more time to recover from his fractured toe, which he sustained against Toulouse. Also, with Milan Baros about to be transferred to Portsmouth, he was left out as well. Our new boy Boum-Boum will be watching from the stands.

Expected lineup:

Coupet
Clerc – Squillaci – Bodmer – Grosso
Crosas – Toulalan – Kallstrom
Govou – Benzema – Ben Arfa

We’re left with pretty much the same regurgitated defense. Fabio Grosso has no backup, and no way Sandy Paillot will get the nod over a fit Bodmer. As for RB, it is technically Anthony Reveillere’s turn, but Francois Clerc had a great game against Lorient.

In midfield, again we don’t have much of a choice. With Bodmer in defense and with Juninho out, all we have is Marc Crosas to take his place. Thankfully, Crosas looked pretty good in the last two games, so I don’t mind his starting again.

Up front is a toss up. Now that Govou has returned, I can’t imagine Perrin not playing him. And with Karim Benzema scoring left and right, it seems criminal not to let him play. So the question is – who will get that third spot? My vote is with Hatem Ben Arfa, who’s also been scoring left and right. But Fred looked very promising in the last game, so it’s possible that Perrin might drop either Ben Arfa or Govou to put in Fred (thereby shifting Benzema to the left). And don’t forget Cesar Delgado, who will hopefully get some minutes as well.

Viewing options:

It will be pretty easy to watch this game since it’s the big weekend match in France. Setanta/Setanta Broadband will be broadcasting it, and you will be able to find streams here.

Expected result:

My random guess of the day is 2-1. I can see Lyon conceding, but I also see them scoring…