Matchday 13 of the Ligue 1 season gets underway this weekend. On Sunday night, Lyon host Lille in what promises to be one of the standout ties of the round.
The two sides are separated by five points in the Ligue 1 table, with eighth-place Lyon trailing sixth-place Lille. In truth, both teams will be desperate to improve their league position.
🤜🔴 𝑾𝑰𝑵𝑵𝑬𝑹𝑺 🔵🤛 pic.twitter.com/T2vNFWhaD8— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) October 26, 2022
🤜🔴 𝑾𝑰𝑵𝑵𝑬𝑹𝑺 🔵🤛 pic.twitter.com/T2vNFWhaD8
Can Lyon close the gap on Lille? Or will Les Dogues keep the pressure on the top four? It’s time to take a closer look at both sides.
Let’s start with the hosts, Lyon, who have only managed to win five of their 12 Ligue 1 clashes this season – recording two draws and five losses.
Believe it or not, only five teams have suffered more defeats than Los Gones this term, while only two sides have registered fewer draws.
It is worth noting that Lyon have won just one of their previous seven league outings – and that win came as they beat Montpellier 2-1 last weekend.
Lyon can take confidence from the fact that they have only lost four of their past 25 home games in Ligue 1. That said, Lille are among the division’s in-form teams right now.
Indeed, Lille head into Sunday’s showdown on a three-game winning streak after seeing off Lens (1-0), Strasbourg (0-3) and Monaco (4-3).
When you look at the bigger picture, Les Dogues have won six of their previous nine league encounters – scoring over 2.5 goals on four occasions.
Jonathan David has been Lille’s danger man this term. The 22-year-old Canadian has bagged nine goals and three assists in 12 games across all competitions.
Given that Lille have scored at least one goal in each of their past 15 league outings, they are expected to hit the target this weekend.
Head-to-head: Lille are currently enjoying an 11-game unbeaten streak against Lyon when it comes to Ligue 1 meetings.
When you look at the bigger picture, Lille have lost just three of their previous 23 meetings with Lyon in all competitions.
Team news: Lyon have three players sidelined due to injury at the moment: Julian Pollersbeck, Castello Lukeba and Romain Faivre.
Lille are injury-free right now, meaning head coach Paulo Fonseca has a full-strength squad at his disposal.
Not only have Lille won their last three Ligue 1 games, but they have also avoided defeat in each of their previous 11 league meetings with Lyon.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Lille will claim all three points on Sunday – scoring over 1.5 goals on their way to victory.