The fight for Europe continues with Lyon travelling to the Stade Saint-Symphorien to meet with a Metz side set to be relegated this weekend if they cannot better the result of Clermont Foot in 17th place with the gap now at eight points in the fight for survival in Ligue 1.
In reality, Metz are all but down and out in the French top tier. It's been a long season for them, and the writing has been on the wall for many months and this was only emphasised even more in their recent match with Montpellier.
#MHSCFCM [ ℝ𝕖𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕪 ]✖️ Malgré deux buts signés Thomas #Delaine et Louis #Mafouta, les Grenats ont partagé les points du match nul ce dimanche à Montpellier (2-2).🎥 Le résumé vidéo complet de la rencontre 👉 https://t.co/XECFs3afD2— Fc Metz ☨ (@FCMetz) May 2, 2022
#MHSCFCM [ ℝ𝕖𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕪 ]✖️ Malgré deux buts signés Thomas #Delaine et Louis #Mafouta, les Grenats ont partagé les points du match nul ce dimanche à Montpellier (2-2).🎥 Le résumé vidéo complet de la rencontre 👉 https://t.co/XECFs3afD2
It looked as if Metz were set to give themselves a fighting chance when they made the journey to the Mosson Stadium as they were 2-0 up by the 79th minute.
However, a goal shortly after and an equaliser in stoppage time forced them to drop two points, and it all but summed up their inability to remain in Ligue 1 and their lack of quality.
The point did, ironically, keep Frédéric Antonetti's men away from official relegation last week, as a defeat would have ended their hopes of achieving safety through points.
Now, with the gap at eight points on the safe zone and with an inferior goal difference already, Metz must simply hope they win all three of their remaining Ligue 1 games and hope that Clermont Foot, St-Etienne, and Bordeaux lose all of theirs.
It’s a near impossible feat, and with them not having won a game since beating Reims back in January, they've collected one win in 2022 and are one of the most out-of-form sides across Europe's top five divisions.
With this in mind, attention in this game turns towards Lyon and their fight to get back into Europe for next season after a torrid year in both Europe and Ligue 1. Their Europa League dreams were crushed weeks back at the hands of West Ham United, but with them in seventh, they are currently heading for no European football for next season.
Peter Bosz's men have returned to fantastic goalscoring form recently, however, and despite losing to Brest three weeks ago, they've still scored 14 goals in their four games.
This saw them hammer Bordeaux 6-1, lose to Brest 2-1, beat Montpellier 5-2, and register one of their most famous results in recent years as they battered rivals Marseille 3-0 away from him.
Forebet predicts a win for Lyon here and for the game to see over 2.5 goals and spell the end for Metz in Ligue 1.