Ligue 1 Preview: Lille on a Winning Streak, Lyon Shows Strong Away Form

On November 2 at 4:00 AM, the 10th round of the 2024/25 Ligue 1 season will see Lille hosting Lyon.

Lille currently stands in 4th place in Ligue 1 with 17 points from 9 matches, trailing the league leaders Paris Saint-Germain by 6 points and only behind third-placed Marseille on goal difference. After suffering four consecutive losses across all competitions in late August, Génésio and his team regrouped and have gone unbeaten in their last 7 matches (5 wins, 2 draws). Notably, they impressively defeated Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid in the Champions League, making Génésio only the second coach after Liverpool legend Jürgen Klopp to beat Guardiola, Ancelotti, Mourinho, and Simeone in the Champions League.

In the past 37 Ligue 1 home matches, Lille has only lost 3 times, one of which was against this match’s opponent, Lyon, in May of this year. In that game, Lille led 3-2 until the 88th minute but ultimately conceded a 3-4 defeat.

Lyon is currently in 7th place with 14 points from 9 matches, not far behind the home team Lille. However, Lyon has faced some challenges recently. After a five-match winning streak, they have struggled at home, losing 0-1 to Beşiktaş and drawing 2-2 with lower-ranked Orléans while leading. This has set an awkward record: Lyon has failed to win more than half of their first 9 Ligue 1 matches for 12 consecutive seasons.

However, when facing Lille, Lyon seems to regain confidence. In the last 6 direct encounters, Lyon has lost only once, maintaining a high unbeaten rate. It’s also worth noting that Lyon is currently on a three-match winning streak away from home.

In terms of personnel, there is a noticeable disparity between the two teams. Lille manager Génésio is dealing with a long injury list, including Bak, Umtiti, Thiago Santos, Bentaleb, Cabella, Harazim, and E. Mbappé. Génésio hopes that Jonathan David and Zegurova can step up to help the team through this tough period. David has scored 11 goals in 16 appearances this season and provided crucial goals in the victories over Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.

Lyon manager Bosz can field a relatively complete squad for the away trip, although Zahar and Upamecano have not consistently featured in the starting lineup since returning from short suspensions. Mikautadze, who lost his starting position early in the season due to poor form, found his rhythm again last week with a brace, leaving Bosz with a decision to make between him and Lacazette.

Overall, despite Lille’s recent poor performance against Lyon, considering their rare home defeats to Lyon and the significant gap in form and strength between the two sides, it seems more reasonable to favor the home team Lille.

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