What: France Ligue 1
Who: Lille vs Lyon
When: Sunday 27th February, 2011, at 20:00 UK Time
Where: Stade Lille-Metropole, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France
Running Out of Steam?
Leaders Lille will be looking to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat to Montpellier last week which brought to an end a superb run of form which had propelled them to the top of Ligue 1, as well as the blow of having been knocked out of the Europa League by PSV Eindhoven. Having gone 13 matches unbeaten, Rudi Garcia’s swashbuckling side found themselves caught short last weekend as they allowed Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille, Rennes and Lyon to close the gap at the top. Following Thursday’s defeat to PSV, Lille have won just one of their last six games in all competitions, leading some to suggest that the Ligue 1 side may have hit a wall.
Lille are the first team this season to sit at the top of Ligue 1 and look like they might stay there, though the northern France side have not won the title for 57 years, so will hope they are not running out of steam. Since they moved into pole position in December, Garcia’s team had yet to taste defeat before last weekend. How will Les Dogues cope with the dip in form? In the past they have been guilty of allowing tiredness to catch up with them towards the end of the season, but this year they seem to have added depth to the squad and used player rotation to better effect.
Garcia will not be happy that his team have had 48 fewer hours to recover from their European exertions against PSV than Lyon, who played on Tuesday night against Real Madrid, but he is prioritising the title push. The team which took on PSV on Thursday was a weakened one with the Lyon clash in mind.
With the pacey creative talents of Eden Hazard, Gervinho and Moussa Sow having being rested in the Europa League, Lille will pose their usual threat up front. Their pace and imagination could be too much for Lyon’s 33-year-old defender Cris and if they are on form, that could be the key to this game for the home side.
Back to Goalscoring Ways
Lyon crushed Nancy 4-0 at the weekend as they registered their biggest win of the season. The significance of the victory was that while Claude Puel’s side have impressed at times this season, they have been unable to turn superiority into goals. However, having beaten local rivals Saint-Etienne 4-1 away from home the previous week, Les Gones look like they have rediscovered their goalscoring touch and are ready to push on. And they showed good character in midweek to come from a goal down against Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid too, who looked in control of the game after Karim Benzema had put them ahead. Lyon fought back with a strike from Bafatimbi Gomis and looked the stronger team as the game came to an end. If they can carry that form into this weekend they will have an excellent chance.
Lisandro Lopez was missing last weekend with a hamstring strain, and will probably not be back for the game with leaders Lille, but with Gomis, Jeremy Pied and Yoann Gourcuff leading the line Lyon should have enough going forward to threaten their league rivals. But their sometimes shaky defence will have to be at their best to keep out Lille’s talented forward line.
Puel’s men lost their own long unbeaten run last month when they went down 2-1 to Valenciennes after four months without defeat in the league. The streak propelled them back into contention in the title race after a disastrous start to the season and they now sit just four points adrift of Lille. Defender Anthony Reveillere has admitted that defeat could spell the end of their hopes of winning Ligue 1 this term.
"It’s a turning point for Lille because if they win, they know they will eliminate a title contender."
Reveillere’s words betray Lyon’s belief that the match is a must win game, certainly more for them than for Lille. The extra motivation that provides may bring out the best in a side which seem to cope well in adversity, and they have an excellent chance of closing the gap on their opponents if they play to the best of their ability.
Recent form
Lille:
Lille 2–2 PSV Eindhoven (17/02; Europa League)
Montpellier 1-0 Lille (20/02; Ligue 1)
PSV Eindhoven 3–1 Lille (24/02; Eredivisie)
Lyon:
Saint-Etienne 1–4 Lyon (12/02; Ligue 1)
Lyon 4–0 Nancy (18/02; Ligue 1)
Lyon 1–1 Real Madrid (22/02; Champions League)
Key absences
Lille: Emerson; Mathieu Debuchy (doubt)
Lyon: Ederson; Lisandro Lopez (doubt)
Players to watch
Lille – Rio Mavuba: The creative talents of Gervinho and Eden Hazard will trouble the Lyon defence, but it will be the league leaders ability to control and dominate midfield which could swing the contest their way. If they are to win the battle in this part of the pitch then the athletic Rio Mavuba will have to be at his best to win possession and supply Lille’s creative forwards.
Lyon – Bafatimbi Gomis: Claude Puel’s men have struggled for most of the season due to their inability to convert enough chances and kill games off. Their resurgence following the derby defeat to Saint-Etienne in October coincided with Bafatimbi Gomis’s superb goalscoring run. The seven times Ligue 1 champions should get their chances here, and the key will be whether their forwards, primarily Gomis, can take them.
Match Prediction
Lyon have the advantage of a longer rest than their rivals following the midweek European action, but then Lille rested a number of players against PSV Eindhoven, and so should not be too handicapped by that. Both teams should create chances and each is arguably better going forward than in defence, so it should be an entertaining contest.
Lille could afford defeat more than Lyon in the race to win the championship, and it may be that there is more urgency for the visitors to take the game and close the gap on their rivals. Whilst Lyon have disappointed this season, they have shown that they are able to win when their backs are against the wall and they beat the leaders 3-1 at the Stade Gerland earlier in this campaign. The game could go either way and it will come down to who is more clinical up front. The Lille defence has looked vulnerable in their last three games, and Lyon are in good goalscoring form, so they may edge it 2-1.
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