Our prediction for this Ligue 1 match:
Lyon will be aiming to build on back-to-back wins over Toulouse and Monaco when they take on Nantes on Matchday 17. Les Gones have been showing signs of improvement of late, but they are still sitting in the relegation zone. Despite scoring the winner against Les Rouges et Blancs, Brazil midfielder Jeffinho should once against start from the bench, while both Remy Riou and Johann Lepenant remain in the treatment room.
Les Canaris, on the other hand, failed to impress in a 2-0 loss to Brest at the weekend, which is yet another reason why we are going to bet on the hosts. As for the visiting team, defender Jean-Kevin Duverne is back from suspension, whereas both Bastien Meupiyou and Ignatius Ganago remain on the sidelines with injuries. Jocelyn Gourvennec is likely to stick to the 4-2-3-1 formation, with Mostafa Mohamed up front as a lone forward.
Highlighted Player (Alexandre Lacazette):
Alexandre Lacazette is a hometown boy of Lyon, a powerful striker who went through the youth ranks of the French side to become one of the most important players for Les Gones. The 25-year-old forward was also a member of all France national team selections becoming a European champion at the age of 19 by scoring the winner in the final against Spain.
This goal gave him a reputation of a big game player, one he went on to uphold on various occasions at his club. Lacazette is a hard working forward an accomplished finisher of the ball able to score from different positions. The most prolific striker in his side and among the top ones in the Ligue 1, Alexandre Lacazette scored more than 20 league goals last two seasons on a trot.
Constantly linked with a move away from Lyon, Alexandre Lacazette refuses to speak about anything other than his football and is leaving all the talk to the football pitch.
Highlighted Team (Nantes):
Founded on April 21, 1943 Nantes is a professional football club that compete in French Ligue 1. Les Canaris are considered one of the most famous French clubs and they had a lot of success during the sixties and the seventies. Nantes won their first Ligue 1 title in the 1964/1965 season and 36 years later (2000/2001) they clinched their eighth (last) domestic trophy.
Speaking of the club’s European success, les Canaris did well to make it to the Champions League semis in 1996, but Italian giants Juventus proved to be a big catch for the French outfit. Nantes welcome their rivals at La Beaujoire-Louis Fonteneau and the capacity of the stadium is 38.004.
The likes of Vahid Halilhodzic, Adel Selimi, Michel Der Zakarian, Viorel Moldovan, Mario Yepes, Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps, Claude Makelele, Christian Karembeu and Dimitri Payet are the notable footballers who played for the club in the past. Nantes are well known for their yellow jerseys and that is the reason why they are nicknamed the Canaries (les Canaris).