Preview: Lyon vs. Marseille
The Groupama Stadium plays host to the 122nd Choc des Olympiques on Sunday evening, as Lyon lock horns with Marseille in the weekend’s headline encounter.
Les Gones ran out 2-1 winners over Toulouse in their most recent fixture, while Igor Tudor’s side also came up trumps in gameweek 31 – overcoming Troyes 3-1.
Barring a dampening Coupe de France semi-final exit to Nantes, the Lyon ship has been well and truly steadied under Laurent Blanc in 2023, and Les Gones are in with an outside chance of returning to European competition as the campaign draws to a close.
In what could have been a dress rehearsal for the domestic cup final, Alexandre Lacazette crashed home from the spot against Toulouse for his 19th goal of the campaign before Zakaria Aboukhlal levelled for Les Violets, only for the hapless Logan Costa to turn into his own net under pressure from Lacazette in the 88th minute.
Victory on Toulouse’s turf extended Lyon’s winning run in the top flight to three matches – as well as stretching their unbeaten streak to seven Ligue 1 games – and Blanc’s side have suddenly surged up to seventh place in the table, five points worse off than Lille in the final continental spot.
Tightening up at the back has not exactly been the secret to Lyon’s revival, as Blanc’s men have just two clean sheets to show from their last 10 top-flight matches, but they have also failed to score just once in that sequence – a goalless stalemate with Lorient in early March.
However, victories at the Groupama Stadium have still been hard to come by for Lyon, who have prevailed in just three of their last 11 top-flight games in front of their own fans, but Marseille’s recent trips to the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region have yielded little success.
Winless in 13 Ligue 1 away matches against Lyon since a Mamadou Niang brace sealed a 2-1 victory in November 2007, Marseille have hardly typified consistency during their best-of-the-rest battle with Lens, but Troyes were no match for Igor Tudor’s crop last weekend.
Either side of Cengiz Under’s finish from a tight angle, Vitinha struck his first two Ligue 1 goals for Marseille – an arrowed finish before a reaction strike into an open net – and Mama Balde’s late consolation for Troyes could not inspire an improbable comeback.
With Lens suffering a rare loss at the hands of runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain last weekend, Les Olympiens have clambered back above Les Sang et Or into second place for the time being, but they could be knocked off the podium entirely if Lens and Monaco both win on Saturday.
Marseille’s own unbeaten run in the French top flight now stands at six matches, while they have not suffered defeat on the road since October’s loss to PSG – remarkably winning eight and drawing two of their 10 games on rival territory since.
A tally of 36 points from 15 away games is the best record of its kind in the top flight – as is 10 goals conceded on the road – and a Samuel Gigot effort was enough for Marseille to sink Lyon 1-0 earlier this season; ending a five-match winless run against their bitter adversaries.
Lyon Ligue 1 form:
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Lyon form (all competitions):
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Marseille Ligue 1 form:
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We say: Lyon 1-2 Marseille
Sparks always tend to fly when the Choc des Olympiques takes place – whether they be from the stands or on the pitch – and given Lyon’s recent upturn in results coupled with Marseille’s string of failures at the Groupama Stadium, this is an extremely difficult derby to call.
Marseille have proven adept at keeping the back door shut on the road all season long, though, and while Lyon should feel confident of breaching the Olympiens’ backline, a Gones side who often underperform at home might come up just short against the away-day specialists.