Lyon and Nantes meet at the Stade de Gerland on Sunday with both sides sitting side by side in Ligue 1.
Les Gones, who are 11th, will be hoping that they can secure a victory and end their six-match winless streak.
Les Canaris, having been promoted from Ligue 2 last season, have enjoyed a good start to the top-flight campaign and can push towards the European spots with a triumph.
The match gets underway at 4pm.
Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage from the Stade de Gerland as Lyon host Nantes in Ligue 1.
It's been a torrid last month or so for Lyon. They haven't won in their last matches, have slipped out of the European spots in the league and been dumped out of the Champions League in the space of a few weeks. However, Les Gones will be hoping that they can get back to winning ways against Nantes this afternoon.
On the other hand, Nantes have enjoyed a very good start on their return to Ligue 1. Having impressed in a defeat to champions Paris Saint-Germain, Les Canaris have responded with a draw at Reims before beating Sochaux in their last fixture. They began the campaign with a victory over Bastia on the opening day, and will be feeling confident ahead of this match.
These two sides are among the most successful clubs in France, so this is a romantic one for the historians.
Ok, let's bring you the team news.
LYON XI: Lopes, Bedimo, Dabo, Kone, Umtiti, Gonalons, Grenier, Malbranque, Briand, Gomis, Lacazette
Lyon boss Remi Garde has made three changes to his team following their draw with Rennes in their last Ligue 1 outing.
Milan Bisevac, Nabil Fekir and Gueida Fofana have all dropped out of the first XI, with Bakary Kone, Steed Malbranque and Jimmy Briand coming into the side.
Briand and Gomis both looked certain to leave the Stade de Gerland in the summer, but they both start for Les Gones today.
LYON BENCH: Gorgelin, Zeffane, Ferri, Fofana, Mvuemba, Fekir, Plea
Ok, and now for the away side.
NANTES XI: Riou, Alhadhur, Cissokho, Djilobodji, Vizcarrondo, Bessat, Deaux, Toure, Veretout, Bedoya, Djordjevic
Nantes head coach Michel der Zakarian has made two alterations to his side following their victory over basement club Sochaux last weekend.
Olivier Veigneau and Serge Gakpe have been dropped, with Chaker Alhadhur and Birama Toure called into the starting lineup.
NANTES BENCH: Zelazny, Djidji, Ndongala, Trebel, Aristeguieta, Gakpe, Nkoudou
Nantes keeper Remy Riou will come up against his former club today, and he has taken a swipe at them in the buildup to this match.
Riou: "Lyon is not a football town. When they win people go, but when they don't there are much less. In Nantes, even in L2 people were there. But there was a lot of enthusiasm in the 2000s in Lyon."
We're just moments away from kick off, a win for either side in this match would take them up to sixth in the table.
KICKOFF! The match is underway with Lyon playing from left to right.
Lyon are wearing their all-white home strip with red and blue pattern, while Nantes sport their all-yellow first strip.
GOAL DISALLOWED! Nantes have the ball in the back of the net and I have no idea why it has been chalked off. The cross comes in from the right, and Lyon keeper Lopes simply drops the ball at the feet of Djordjevic, who taps the ball into the back of the net. Not given.
CLOSE! Nantes are on the attack the moment, but Lyon manage to head a cross into the box away. However, it falls at the feet of Djordjevic, who slams the ball of the half-volley which sails just wide of the far right post.
It's been a good start to this match. The tempo is high and both teams are attacking. They are both desperate to win.
CHANCE! Lyon attack down the left and it's knocked inside to Grenier. He opens up his body and curls an effort from the edge of the box with his right boot. However, he gets too much on it and it flies over Riou's bar.
Nantes have a free kick on the left of the Lyon half which is floated towards the far post. Djordjevic is up to attack it, but Gonalons can head the ball behind for a corner.
Veretout whips in a corner from the right to the near post, but Lopes is there to punch it clar. He did far better there the Lyon stopper.
Interestingly, Briand seems to be playing on the left wing for Lyon, with Lacazette on the right. Gomis is through the middle.
Gonalons isn't having a great game so far for Lyon. He picks up the ball and looks to spray a pass wide, but puts it straight out of play. The captain is struggling at the moment.
GOAL DISALLOWED! For the second in this match a goal has been chalked off, but this was a far easier call. Gomis makes his way into the box and gets on the end of a pass before putting his shot in the back of the net. However, he is clearly offside.
GOAL! Lyon 0-1 Nantes (Jordan Veretout)
Nantes are in front, and deservedly so. Cissokho bombs it down the right before crossing to an unmarked Veretout at the far post, who guides the ball back across goal and into the back of the net.
GOAL! Lyon 1-1 Nantes (Bafetimbi Gomis)
An instant response from the hosts. Gomis runs onto a long ball in the box and outmuscles Vizcarrondo before slamming a shot into the far corner of the net from the right.
That goal was Gomis' 89th in Ligue 1, courtesy of a Briand assist.
No chances in the last few minutes, but Lyon look buoyed by the equaliser.
CHANCE! Lacazette is played in on the left for Lyon and makes his way into the box, but Riou is quickly out to block the shot and hold onto it.
Bit of a quiet spell here, Nantes are getting back into it and have seen a few corners cleared by the hosts.
HALF TIME: Lyon 1-1 Nantes
Well despite a fairly uneventful finish the half, it has been a very decent game so far. The goals came in the space of three minutes as Gomis' powerful shot cancelled out Veretout's opening header.
Let's bring you some half-time stats.
Match statistics:
Lyon:
Shots 6
On target 2
Possession 56%
Corners 1
Fouls 10
Nantes:
Shots 3
On target 2
Possession 44%
Corners 2
Fouls 5
The two sides are back out at the Stade de Gerland.
KICKOFF! Nantes, playing from left to right, get the match back underway.
CHANCE! Riou drops a free kick right in front of Gomis in the six-yard box, but he can recover in time to push the ball past the post.
Malbranque pops up on the edge of the box for Lyon and fizzes a low effort just past the post.
LYON CHANGE Dabo has been taken off by Remi Garde, with Gueida Fofana coming on.
GOAL! Lyon 2-1 Clement Grenier
Lyon have turned it around with a superb free kick from Grenier. The ball is outside the box on the right, and he curls a beauty into the top corner. No chance for Riou.
Lyon are starting to dictate the play now, testing times for Nantes if they are to find a way back into this.
The game has gone really quiet since Grenier's goal. Nothing new to report.
NANTES CHANGE Gakpe is on in place of Veretout.
NANTES CHANGE Bessat has been taken off, with Aristeguieta coming on.
GOAL! Lyon 3-1 Nantes (Jimmy Briand)
Great goal from Lyon, who look to have put the game to bed now. Grenier takes a corner from the left and swings it into the near post. It falls to Briand, who pulls off a smart backheel into the back of the net.
LYON CHANGE Jimmy Briand is replaced by Jordan Ferri.
NANTES CHANGE Third and final change for the visitors as Trebel is on in place of Bedoya.
LYON CHANGE The home side make their last substitution of the afternoon as Grenier is taken off. Mvuemba the man to come on.
No hint of another chance here. Nantes seem to have given up. Gomis had a sniff a few moments ago, but the visitors were able to clear.
We will have three minutes added time.
FULL TIME: Lyon 3-1 Nantes
Lyon finally end their six-match winless run with a good victory at the Stade de Gerland today. Grenier's free kick and Briand's backheel made the difference after Gomis had cancelled out Veretout's opener.
Here are the full-time stats.
Match statistics:
Lyon:
Shots 11
On target 5
Possession 55%
Corners 6
Fouls 18
Nantes:
Shots 9
On target 2
Possession 45%
Corners 4
Fouls 13
Well, that's it from me. I'll be back later this evening for Paris Saint-Germain vs. AS Monaco! Until then, goodbye.
Written by
Matt Cotton
Matt Cotton
