The fourteenth round of Ligue 1 starts with perhaps the most exciting duel: Olympique Lyonnais against AS Saint-Étienne in Le Derby. In the previous four editions in Lyon, AS Saint-Étienne took only two points and also this edition the team of Jean-Louis Gasset is not the favorite against the arch rival. What can we expect on Friday evening?
Olympique Lyonnais:
With ten points from the last five matches (3-1-1, +0 (9-9)), Bruno Génésio’s team did fine on paper, as only Paris Saint-Germain performed better in the last five games. The current numbers two and three of the Ligue 1, Lille OSC and HSC Montpellier, gained just as many points in the last five games but managed to improve the goal difference, making Olympique Lyonnais still two points behind Lille and a point behind Montpellier. After an interland period it is always questionable how it is with the shape of a team, especially for top teams like Olympique Lyonnais of which many players are international. After the two earlier interland breaks this season, Olympique Lyonnais played a draw against Caen and was won by PhD student Nîmes Olympique, so on paper Bruno Génésio would not have to worry too much about that aspect.
Something Génésio may have to worry about is the physical condition of Memphis Depay. The Dutchman was in the previous league game against En Avant Guingamp (2-4 wins) decisive with two goals and two assists and also played a decisive role in the Dutch games in the games against France and Germany in the Nations League. In the last quarter of the game against Germany, the striker stumbled across the field in the last fifteen minutes, but because Ronald Koeman had already changed three times, Depay had to stay within the range. According to Depay himself it was only minor pains and he did not have any injuries, but with a view to the game against Manchester City in the Champions League of next week, Génésio will not take any risks with Depay.
AS Saint-Étienne:
With 23 points out of thirteen matches, AS Saint-Étienne is still performing well in the league for the time being with a provisional fifth place. In house, the team of Jean-Louis Gasset even performs excellently with seventeen points from seven games, but outside the home Stade Geoffroy-Guichard it runs less with only six points out of six matches. The match against Olympique Lyonnais on Friday evening is therefore for ASSE one in which a victory is important for several reasons: a victory over the arch rival is not only good for the prestige of the club and the rank in the ranking, but would also mean that AS Saint -Étienne overtakes the arch rival in the rankings and gains confidence for the further away games this season.
In contrast to the arch rival, AS Saint-Étienne is performing less this season after interland breaks: against Paris Saint-Germain, the team went 4-0 and the team played a fair amount of luck against Stade Rennais. Prior to the interland break, Gasset’s team did well with two victories in a row in their own stadium against Angers and Stade Reims. The goal difference over these two games, +3 (6-3), says a lot about Les Verts: there are plenty of players in the selection that can score, but defensively it is not always you-of-it. In the last edition of Le Derby, AS Saint-Étienne in Lyon in the final phase managed to grab a point with a selection that was qualitatively less strong than the selection of this season, so Gasset will undoubtedly have a better battle plan than last time.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.62
