Ligue 1 – Match Preview – Caen vs Lyon

Ligue 1 – Match Preview – Caen vs Lyon

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Lyon will travels to sixth-placed Caen in an attempt to grab three points before the international break. 

Hubert Fournier’s side has come under some criticism due to their unimpressive start to the season. They began the campaign with a goalless draw against Lorient before a 1-0 away win to Guingamp. Their previous fixture ended in a 2-1 defeat to Rennes.

A worry for Fournier is the form of last season’s top goalscorer Alexandre Lacazette. The striker is currently without a goal this campaign and there are also worries about a possible back injury he picked up against Guingamp. Les Gones have not kept quiet on the matter either with their president Jean-Michel Aulas revealing Lacazette is struggling with the expectation level he created.

Their opposition, Caen, are flying high by their standards. Last week they suffered their first defeat of the season, a 2-1 away loss to Nice. Their opening two games, however, included victories over Toulouse and Marseille.

Key Battle – Claudio Beauvue vs Damien Da Silva 

There are reports in the French press that Lacazette will miss the game due to injury. This means summer signing Beauvue should replace him in the starting lineup. He already has one goal to his name this season and the pressure will be on him to produce the goods again.

He will come up against French defender Da Silva, who, so far this season, has been one of Caen’s best players. In the opening game victory over Marseille, he kept one of Europe’s hottest prospects in Michy Batshuayi quiet. He has a lot of great qualities to his game but his aerial ability stands out from the rest and this trait will be tested at the weekend.

Team News

Fournier has a big decision on his hands in defence. Christophe Jallet and Milan Bisevac have now returned from injury, which could see Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and/or Rafael drop to the bench. Lacazette is also expected to miss through his back injury. If he is to miss the game, it will give Beauvue the perfect opportunity to impress both Fournier and the Lyon faithful.

Lyon Expected XI (4-3-1-2): Lopes (GK); Rafael, Yanga-Mbiwa, Umtiti, Bedimo; Ferri, Gonalons, Tolisso; Valbuena; Fekir, Beauvue.

Caen manager Patrice Garande can expect to have almost his full squad to pick from this weekend. The only expected absente is left-back Emmanuel Imorou. Garande’s side will be boosted with the returns of Alaeddine Yahia, Alexandre Raineau and Jordan Nkololo, who all resumed training earlier this week. This could see Syam Ben Youssef drop to the bench to make way for Yahia.

Caen Expected XI (4-3-3) Vercoutre (GK); Appiah, Yahia, Silva, Alhadhur; Delaplace, Adeoti, Féret; Nangls, Delort, Bessat.

Head-to-Head

 In their previous six meetings, Caen have won three times and Lyon twice with the points being shared only once. In the last six games at the Stade Michel d’Ornano, Caen have won four of them with Lyon winning the other two.

Previous meeting 

The last meeting between these sides favoured the hosts. Towards the end of last season, Lyon made the trip to Caen only to leave embarrassed after a 3-0 defeat. Nicolas Benezet, now of Guingamp, grabbed a brace that day with Sloan Privat, also of Guingamp, scoring the third.

Prediction

Even with the lack of goals in the Lyon side and the previous meetings favouring Caen, it is hard to look beyond Lyon. Fournier would have drilled his players in training and they will be looking to go into the international break with two wins to their name.

Caen 1 Lyon 2

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