Lyon and Rennes will battle in Ligue 1 this weekend with both sides currently sitting outside of the European spots with hopes of getting closer to the top five with all three points at the Groupama Stadium.
It's been yet another struggle for Lyon this season and they are staring in the face of consecutive seasons without European football unless they can find some consistency.
🔴🔵 Thank you to our fans for being present and for making an effort to take the trip. For months we have been working on major changes, but that has not been enough. pic.twitter.com/LXcu4DFqSf— Olympique Lyonnais 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@OL_English) April 6, 2023
🔴🔵 Thank you to our fans for being present and for making an effort to take the trip. For months we have been working on major changes, but that has not been enough. pic.twitter.com/LXcu4DFqSf
In fact, their campaign has all but been summed up in the past week alone after defeating the league leaders Paris Saint-Germain and losing to Nantes in the French Cup semi-finals.
It does now mean all attention turns to league action for Laurent Blanc’s side, but the former PSG manager is still struggling to get a chime out of his side since taking the to the helm earlier in the season.
Now, the club are down in ninth and could slip into 10th if they fail to win here and Lorient better their result.
At the same time, Lorient are level on points with Lorient (44) and Lyon are only above them on goals difference. Lyon have now won 12 games from the 29 fixtures so far with nine losses and eight draws on the board too.
In fact, after also drawing with Nantes in Ligue 1 and drawing with Lille and Lorient too, oddly enough, the only victory Lyon have secured in the past six weeks hsa come against PSG.
Rennes are heading into this game having also defeated PSG in Paris just prior to the international break. Karl Toko Ekambi and Arnaud Kalimuendo both scored three minutes into the second half of the game in a 2-0 victory in the capital.
However, just like Lyon, Bruno Genesio's men fell right back into the loss column with a 1-0 home defeat to Lens last weekend.
Rennes are behind Lille by two points in the race for fifth, and they sit behind Monaco in fourth by seven points. In reality, their hopes of a Champions League finish are very slim now and Rennes will merely be looking to get back into the Europa League it seems.
Lyon have struggled at home at times this season and also already lost a handful of games on their own patch. Forebet predicts a draw here and for the game to see under 2.5 goals with both sides set to struggle towards the end of the season in their European pursuits.