Our prediction for this Ligue 1 match:
Struggling French powerhouse Lyon will look to make amends for back-to-back defeats to Brest and Reims when they take on Lorient on Matchday 8. Les Gones are stuck at the bottom of the table with only two points on their account, but Sunday’s football game could be the turning point for the home team. Both Dejan Lovren and Paul Akouokou are out of contention with injuries, but there are no suspended players in the home team.
Les Merlus, on the other hand, are eager to put an end to their four-match winless run. Since Lorient are desperate to move away from the relegation zone as well, we are tempted to put our money on both teams to score. Lorient’s injury list is pretty long, including the likes of Aiyegun Tosin, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Formose Mendy, Bamba Dieng, Quentin Boisgard, and Ayman Kari.
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 (Lorient):
Founded back in 1926, Lorient is a French football club that competes in Ligue 1. Les Merlus have yet to win the Ligue 1 trophy, but they did well to go all the way in the Coupe de France in the 2001/02 season. In the title game, Lorient defeated Bastia thanks to Jean-Claude Darcheville’s goal.
The same season les Merlus made it to the Coupe de la Ligue final, but Bordeaux proved to be a big catch (0-3) for them in the title game. Lorient welcome their rivals at Stade du Moustoir, the stadium which can hold up to 16,392 spectators. The colour of the team’s home shirt is orange with a little black on it, while white is the dominant colour of their away jersey. In the 2002/03 season Lorient represented France in European competitions.
Les Merlus, though, failed to impress on their debut in the UEFA Cup as they were beaten by Denizlispor in the round 1 double-header.