Lyon and Ajaccio will kick off the Ligue 1 season on Friday night. Ajaccio are back in the top flight after nearly a decade away from it.
On opening day, Ajaccio will play one of the teams bookies’ believe could trouble Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the table, Lyon.
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Peter Bosz’s Lyon finished eighth last term. It is a surprise Lyon retained Bosz for the 2022-23 season after poor results in season ago.
Lyon have backed the manager in the transfer market, raising expectations of Champions League qualification. Corentin Tolisso and Alexandre Lacazette both returned to the club. Nicolas Tagliafico was signed from Ajax. Midfielder Johann Lepenant also arrived, joining from Caen.
On paper, no team outside of Paris has had as strong of a transfer window as Lyon. A win on opening day would send expectations higher for Lyon. A loss would dent any hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
Ajaccio have had a quiet offseason. They did retain last season’s leading goal scorer Riad Nouri. The Frenchman scored nine times in Ligue 2 to power the side to promotion. Gaetan Courtet was also retained after scoring seven times last term.
Although these teams haven’t played in Ligue 1 since 2014, Lyon and Ajaccio did play a Coupe de France match in February 2021. Lyon smashed their way to victory 5-1 on the day.
Last season, 42% of Ligue 1 matches finished as home wins. Lyon will have home-field advantage on opening day and will aim to make good use of it.
Les Gones were brilliant at the Groupama Stadium in 2021-22 in Ligue 1. Lyon posted a record of 11W-5D-3L with 42 goals for and 25 against. Their final four matches at home finished as wins.
Neither manager goes into the first game of the season with any injury issues. Both will be able to call upon their strongest teams available.
Lyon’s team is obviously head and shoulders stronger than newly-promoted Ajaccio. Bosz should start Lacazette in attack after giving the ex-Arsenal striker the captaincy. Tolissio could start in midfield with Jerome Boateng and Tagliafico getting the nod in defence.
Bosz will also have Lucas Paqueta available, adding to the arsenal of players capable of scoring goals. Lyon’s additions to the squad have strengthened it immensely this offseason.
Last season, Moussa Demeble scored 21 Ligue goals. With Lacazette in the side, those goal numbers could increase.
Lyon should roll to a matchday No. 1 win 3-0. A favourable fixture list could have them top of the table by the time they play PSG on September 18.