Both sides will be cursing their luck having been drawn against such strong opposition in the Champions League play-off stage, and chances are there will be a lot of fire when Lyon and Real Sociedad square off at Stade Gerland.

The French giants had to work hard for the final Champions League berth in Ligue 1, and that made them even more determined to reach the group stages.

Despite many doubting the quality of the squad, especially after Michel Bastos and Dejan Lovren were allowed to leave, les Gones recorded a double victory over Grasshoppers to make it to the play-off round.

With Lisandro Lopez also leaving and Bafetimbi Gomis and Jimmy Briand not in contention, Lyon looked desperately short of options up front ahead of the start of the new Ligue 1 campaign, but that proved to be a wrong impression.

Youngsters Alexandre Lacazette and Yassine Benzia stepped up the plate, while Yoann Gourcuff finally began playing to his potential, with les Gones recording two comfortable victories at the start of the league championship.

With Remi Garde’s men brimming with confidence after scoring seven goals against Nice and Sochaux, backing Lyon to defeat Real Sociedad at 2.25 (5/4) offered at SkyBet looks the right thing to do.

Important defender Samuel Umtiti returns from domestic suspension, but Remy Vercoutre, Rachid Ghezzal and Mouhamadou Dabo remain sidelined.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): A. Lopes – M. Lopes, Bisevac, Umtiti, Bedimo – Grenier, Gonalons, Malbranque – Benzia, Lacazette, Gourcuff.

Real Sociedad return to Europe’s elite competition after exactly 10 years, having done brilliantly to pip Valencia to a fourth-place finish in La Liga last season.

The Basques, however, didn’t seem to have prepared well for the Champions League qualifiers, with key midfielder Asier Illarramendi leaving and only several new players coming in.

Haris Seferovic and Esteban Granero are certainly expected to improve the quality of the squad, but it is more than evident La Real don’t have what it takes to battle top European clubs.

Real Sociedad enjoyed a bright start to the league campaign, defeating Getafe in their opening match, but the clash against Lyon will be a whole different ball game.

Bet365 see La Real as 1.91 (10/11) favourites to make it to the group stages, but I am not sure they are good enough to match in-form Lyon.

The visitors will have Mikel Bergara back from domestic suspension, but Jose Angek, Agirretxe, Mikel Gonzalez and Diego Ifran are out injured.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Bravo – C. Martinez, Ansotegi, I. Martinez, De La Bella – Bergara, Ruben Pardo – Vela, Prieto, Castro – Seferovic.

Unbeatable FREE BET Package!

888Sports have just taken free bet promotions to another level! New customers can now get  £/€/88 in Free Bets + 20 Free Spin Spins + Up to 5 “No Lose Bet”. All you need to do is place of at least £/€/$10 with 888Sports to get up to  £/€/$88 in Free Bets + 20 Free Casino Spins for City Life Slot. And also, make a first mobile bet of at least £/€/$1 with minimum odds of 1.5 to get up to £/€/$5 “No lose Bet” on Mobile.

Get Your £88 in Free Bets!