Lyon-Sochaux
22.03 17:00
Lyon lost four successive matches in all competitions, which must be a record of some kind. This match could determine in what direction this season will go and we have no doubts that the hosts will be very motivated. Sochaux escaped the relegation zone by beating Nancy and they will have something to play for at Gerland.
Lyon are going through the rough patch
Even though Lyon had much more competitors for the league title than the previous seasons, they once again emerged as hot favourites with the series of confident performances. Even when they were making mistakes, they stayed at the top as their rivals were unable to take advantage of Lyon’s slip ups. Claude Puel’s team have been looking very good until recently, but the situation have changed considerably in the past few weeks. The run of four straight defeats in all competitions saw the team get eliminated from the Champions League and the French Cup, while they also allowed the title rivals to close the gap to just one point. It is evident that Lyon are in crisis but the players remain optimistic about their chances. The match against Sochaux is extremely important and Puel’s team simply have to take all three points. The fans were delighted to hear that Karim Benzema will be staying for at least one season, while everybody expects Juninho to do the same. Claude Puel has no fresh injury worries and he could name an unchanged line-up to that which started the last two games.
Sochaux will try to surprise Lyon
Sochaux have regularly been involved in the relegation fight over the last few years and not much have changed this season. Soon after the season had started, we could see that Francis Gillot’s team didn’t have enough quality to avoid the relegation struggle and that they would be fighting for their lives. The situation is pretty much the same after 28 rounds of Ligue 1 as Sochaux are on the brink of the relegation zone with the same number of points as 18th-placed Saint Etienne. The club did a good job in January as they signed Sverkos, who now creates a good partnership with Mevlut Erdinc, while Tunisian Micari also fitted right in and he is now the member of the starting 11. Sochaux did improve in the second part to the season but it is more than evident that they lack the quality to get anything against the top teams like Lyon. Gillot is still without El Bounadi, Duplus and Privat, but Maurice-Belay returns from suspension, while Afolabi is back in contention after recovering from injury.
Betting verdict
Lyon are in crisis but they are too serious team to endanger all they’ve worked for throughout the season. Sochaux are in good form but they are poor on the travels and they simply don’t have the quality to stop Lyon from winning this game.
Tip: Over 2.5 goals, Odds 2.0
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