Ending the year as they mean to go on, a resurgent Lyon host Nantes at the Groupama Stadium on Wednesday evening in their final Ligue 1 fixture of 2023.
Les Gones recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season by overcoming Monaco 1-0 at the weekend, while Les Canaris succumbed to a 2-0 home defeat to Brest.
Match preview
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Neither Laurent Blanc nor Fabio Grosso could halt Lyon's inexorable slide to the foot of the rankings, but a belated new manager bounce under Pierre Sage will allow the Groupama Stadium faithful to head into 2024 with a renewed sense of hope.
Five days after crushing Toulouse 3-0 for just their second top-flight victory of the new term, Lyon made a brief Principality stopover for a date with title outsiders Monaco, who endured an off day in front of goal and were made to pay when Jeffinho finished a sweeping move in the 68th minute.
The home crowd on Wednesday may still look back on 2023 for all the wrong reasons, but a pair of victories with two clean sheets to boot mean that Lyon enter the midweek round of fixtures outside of the automatic relegation zone, currently occupying the playoff place with a one-point buffer to Lorient.
Victory on Wednesday could even propel the reinvigorated seven-time champions as high as 13th if other results go their way - as well as a significant swing in goal difference - and Les Gones last won three top-flight games on the bounce as recently as April.
Keeping Toulouse at bay on December 10 also helped to ensure that Lyon would not enter the final round of 2023 fixtures with the worst defensive record at home - that honour belongs to Lorient (17) - although 16 goals shipped at the Groupama Stadium is hardly a reassuring statistic in itself.
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As Lyon languish in the bottom half of the rankings, Brest have capitalised to launch an unfancied assault on the Champions League places, and Nantes became the latest victims of the swashbuckling Pirates at the Stade de la Beaujoire on Sunday.
Suffering his first home defeat as Nantes boss since taking the reins last month, Jocelyn Gourvennec witnessed Brest take the lead through a sublime Hugo Magnetti finish from inside the D, not long before Steve Mounie put the icing on the cake with Les Pirates' second of the afternoon.
After opening his Canaris account with a shock 1-0 beating of Paris Saint-Germain's closest challengers Nice, the new manager bounce had rapidly worn off for Gourvennec and Nantes, who sit in an unspectacular 11th place in the Ligue 1 standings with 18 points to their name, although they are within touching distance of a place in the top half.
Showcasing just one victory from their last seven outings in the top flight, Nantes' misfiring attack have also managed a paltry three goals in that sequence and are the only team in Ligue 1 this season yet to draw a game on the road, winning two and losing five of their away affairs thus far.
Each of Les Canaris' last three games away from their Beaujoire base has ended in defeat, but after suffering five consecutive losses to Lyon between January 2020 and May 2022, Nantes have gone unbeaten in their last three contests with Les Gones, most recently clinching a 1-0 Coupe de France semi-final win in April before being ripped to shreds by Toulouse in the championship match.
Team News
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A trio of substitutes combined for Jeffinho's winner for Lyon at the weekend, as Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Tino Kadewere both played their part after replacing Corentin Tolisso and Alexandre Lacazette - who came off with an injury - respectively.
It is unclear how serious Lacazette's affliction is, though, and the ex-Arsenal man was one of two casualties from that success alongside left-back Nicolas Tagliafico, who is not expected to be available for the visit of Les Canaris.
Henrique Silva should be given the nod on the left-hand side of Sage's 3-4-2-1 setup in Tagliafico's absence, while Johann Lepenant (knee) and Remy Riou (muscle) will also be unavailable for the contest.
Meanwhile, Nantes will have Jean-Kevin Duverne back from suspension for the trip to the Groupama Stadium, but Gourvennec has now seen another defender in Ronael Pierre-Gabriel fall foul of the rule book, as the right-back will sit this one out for a totting-up of yellow cards.
Pierre-Gabriel was only an unused substitute in the loss to Brest anyway, but Duverne's return could threaten the place of 36-year-old Nicolas Pallois if Jean-Charles Castelletto reverts to his more recognisable central role.
Bastien Meupiyou (knee) and long-term ACL victim Ignatius Ganago are the only two players taking up beds in the Nantes infirmary; the latter's absence guarantees another start for Mostafa Mohamed up top.
Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; O'Brien, Caleta-Car, Lovren; Mata, Caqueret, Tolisso, Silva; Jeffinho, Cherki; Kadewere
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Duverne, Castelletto, Comert, Merlin; Moutoussamy, Chirivella; Mollet, Sissoko, Simon; Mohamed
We say: Lyon 2-0 Nantes
Finding the formula for defensive success under Sage's new system while also improving their ruthlessness in the final third, even a Lacazette-less Lyon can feel confident of stretching their winning sequence to three matches on Wednesday.
Nantes have flattered to deceive in the final third for a number of weeks now, and despite ending their recent hoodoo against Lyon, Les Canaris will likely revert to old ways against their hosts as Sage's side give the home crowd the best Christmas gift possible.
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Top tip
Ben Knapton
