You have to go back to the 1972-73 season to see a victory for the eaglets on Lyon soil, but that doesn’t mean that Eric Roy’s men will head to Gerland as sacrificial lambs to conclude this 13th day of Ligue 1. A match that will pit two teams against each other with exactly the same number of points in the standings (16), each having accumulated 4 wins, 4 draws, and 4 losses.
It is clear that the trip to Lyon will be delicate, especially since the Nice squad will have to do without its many injured: Bamogo, Ben Saada, Digard, Hellebuyck, Pejcinovic, along with the two suspended: Civelli and Bagayoko. The starting eleven might not be the usual one, but they could well want to show their coach that other solutions exist in the Azurean game plans.
This will also be a match of numerous reunions between former Lyon players now at Nice (Roy, Clerc, and Mounier) and the most Niçoise of Lyonnais, Hugo Lloris, the ultimate barrier that Nice attackers will have to try to break through to pull off the feat on this day marked by the number 13. But we know that superstition and football rarely mix well, and it is truly in front of a mountain that the eaglets will find themselves tonight at 9 p.m., and they will need to show self-sacrifice and courage to overcome the likes of Gourcuff, Bastos, Cris, Toulalan, and company.
For his 400th match as a coach, Claude Puel hopes to celebrate it rather than for it to turn unpleasant, and the troubled situation in which the Lyon club finds itself is perhaps one of the weaknesses that OGC Nice can exploit. Missing Lisandro, Delgado, and Ederson, the Lyon coach will still be able to count on a first-choice squad to fill these gaps.
The mission is therefore not impossible, but the task will be extremely tough tonight in the den of Gerland, which will not forgive the slightest misstep by its players… and their coach!
The Nice squad: Ospina, Letizi, Cantareil, Clerc, Gace, Mabiala, Paisley, Coulibaly, Diakité, Faé, Sablé, Traoré, Ljuboja, Mouloungui, Mounier, Poté
The Lyon squad: Lloris, Vercoutre – Réveillère, Gassama, Kolodziejczak, Cris, Lovren, Diakhaté – Gonalons, Makoun, Toulalan, Pjanic, Källström, Gourcuff, Bastos – Briand, Lacazette, Pied, Gomis
The referees for the Lyon vs. Nice match will be Lionel Jaffredo with the whistle, assisted by Didier Martin and Philippe Tugdual. The fourth referee will be Jérôme Auroux.
