Lyon starts their Ligue1 Season 2020-21 campaign on Friday with the first home clash with Dijon.
Team Preview
Champions League 2019-20 semifinalists are back to their domestic Ligue 1 campaign with a home encounter at Groupama Stadium. Lyon FC are boosted up after a splendid European football season. The previous season of Ligue 1 was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak and Lyon saw themselves on the 7th spot. In Champions League, they overcame Serie-A Champion Juventus and Premier League runner-up Manchester City, before going 3-0 down to eventual winner Bayern in the semifinal. Lyon lost Coupe De La Ligue final to PSG in penalty shootout 6-5.
Since the resumption, they have only appeared in four competitive football matches and had no practice to start Ligue 1 campaign. Rudi Garcia aim to bid for the top-three finish this season and give a tough fight to PSG in the race of the French title. Meanwhile, Dijon avoided the relegation battle with a narrow margin and started the new campaign on a defeat with Angers, courtesy of Tarore’s 22th minute strike. Stephane Jobard’s men are now on the Lyon’s home ground and the task is more different. A draw is also a moral victory which looks pretty dull with looking at their previous game. Les Hiboux are under pressure but they had good practice ahead of the new season. Out of four club-friendly affairs, Dijon won just one game and they scored three goals only. They can take inspiration from their last five encounters from the season 2019-20, losing just one game.
Team News & Starting Lineups
Lyon
Moussa Dembele is likely to return to the attack, with Memphis Depay and Jeff Reine-Adelaide. Rafael is out of the final team-sheet after being handed a red card during the Coupe de la Ligue final.
Lineup: Lopes; Dubois, Marcelo, Denayer, Cornet; Caqueret, Guimaraes, Aouar; Reine-Adelaide, Dembele, Depay
Current form: D L W L
Dijon
Romain Amalfitano is expected to return in the Dijon. Pape Cheikh Diop is likely to be out of the Friday tie.
Lineup: Gomis; Nounchil, Manga, Lautoa, Muzinga; Marie, Ndong, Amalfitano; Ebimbe, Scheidler, Chouiar
Ligue 1 form: L
Key Players
Lyon
Moussa Dembele (forward): 16 goals last season & a brace against City in UCL-QF
Memphis Depay (forward): 9 goals & 1 goal against Juventus in UCL R-16 game
Dijon
Mama Balde (midfielder): 6 goals (Last season)
Stephy Mavididi (forward): 5 goals (Last season)
