There are 16 matches to look forward to in the Europa League on Thursday night including the meeting between Lyon and Sparta Prague in Group A.
The game will be played at Parc Olympique Lyonnais and the hosts are currently top of the group on 9 points, with the visitors in second place on 4 points.
⚽️ KTE⚽️ @HoussemAouar3️⃣ points Check out the highlights from #OLRCL 👇👇 pic.twitter.com/xNwBUVkdQ3— Olympique Lyonnais 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@OL_English) November 1, 2021
⚽️ KTE⚽️ @HoussemAouar3️⃣ points Check out the highlights from #OLRCL 👇👇 pic.twitter.com/xNwBUVkdQ3
Lyon come into the match on the back of a 2-1 home win over Lens in Ligue 1 on the weekend. Lyon took a 2-0 lead into half time and despite conceding a goal in the 61st minute, they held on to take maximum points.
That result means Lyon are currently in 6th place in Ligue 1 and have some work to do to climb into the Champions league qualifying positions.
In terms of the Europa League, Lyon enter this game with a 100% record in Group A. They started with a good 2-0 win at Glasgow Rangers before beating Brondby 3-0 at home, with all the goals coming in the second half.
Their most recent Europa League fixture was the reverse game against Sparta Prague and Lyon won a thrilling contest 4-3.
Trends show Lyon have scored 2 or more goals in their last 3 Europa League games in a row. Their home record in the competition is good and Lyon have won 8 of their last 10 Europa League fixtures on home soil, losing only one. Lyon have scored 2 or more goals in 9 of their last 10 home Europa League games.
Sparta Prague make the trip to France on the back of a 2-2 draw at Baník Ostrava in the Czech top-flight. They led the game twice but conceded equalising goals, the second of which came in the 88th minute from the penalty spot.
That result leaves Sparta Prague 4th in the Czech Liga, 3 points off the leaders.
Sparta Prague have lost only one of their last 11 matches in all competitions but the defeat came in the home fixture against Lyon in the Europa League. Trends show Sparta Prague have won only one of their last 5 Europa League fixtures and have picked up just a single victory from their last 9 on the road.
Sparta Prague have conceded 2 or more goals in 7 of their last 9 away Europa League matches.
Looking ahead to the team news and Lyon are without Malo Gusto, who is suspended. Julian Pollersbeck, Moussa Dembele, Lenny Pintor, and Jeff Reine-Adelaide are unlikely to be available due to injury.
Sparta Prague will definitely be without Ladislav Krejci and Casper Højer Nielsen. They also have doubts over the fitness of Filip Soucek and Lukas Julis.
Given the previous meeting between the teams and the home goalscoring record of Lyon in the Europa League, we expect the hosts to score goals in this game. Lyon should score 2 or more goals on their way to victory.