Toulouse vs Lyon

August 15, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Having suffered a 3-2 defeat to Nice on the road in the opening fixture of the league campaign, Toulouse face another difficult task as Alain Casanova’s charges play host to Lyon. Les Gones overcome a number of selection problems to record a comfortable triumph over Rennes, and they will fancy their chances of winning at Stade Municipal.

Toulouse on the downtrend

Not so long ago, Toulouse were considered one of top Ligue 1 sides, but the squad have been getting weaker every season and the reality is le Tefece are now much closer to relegation dogfight than the battle for European positions. Alain Casanova has again stayed without three key men from last season as Serge Aurier and Aymen Abdennour joined PSG and Monaco respectively, whilst Clement Chantome returned to Parc des Princes. The club have signed some promising players in Aleksandar Pesic, Dragos Grigore, Marcel Tisserand and William Matheus, but they have yet to prove they have what it takes to play at this level. Despite showing some promise in pre-season friendlies, le Tefece were far from impressive in the first official match of the season, losing to Nice despite taking the lead thanks to scoring two goals in the dying moments of the first period. The fact is Toulouse were outplayed by average Nice side, so there is every chance they will struggle to match in-form Lyon as well. And while the attacking partnership of Wissam Ben Yedder and Martin Braithwaite seems to be in fine working order, the lack of creativity in midfield is likely to prove a major issue in the Lyon game.

The good news is that Marcel Tisserand and Abel Aguilar have resumed full training, while Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro and Pavle Ninkov also return.

Promising start for Fournier

The seven-time Ligue 1 champions have been working hard to return to old glory days and it appears they are on the right track. Due to difficult financial situation, les Gones were forced to focus on their own youth academy and that has proved to be a blessing in disguise as a number of talented youngsters have gone on to become key players for the senior side. After doing a good job last term, Claude Puel left the post, with Hubert Fournier taking over, and the new boss was certainly happy to see most key players remain at the club. Bafetimbi Gomis, Jimmy Briand and Miguel Lopes did leave, but Christophe Jallet, Lindsay Rose and Mohamed Yattara have arrived to add more quality to the side. Even with a host of first team regulars missing, Lyon started the season well, winning both Europa League matches against Mlada Boleslav, before completely outclassing Rennes at the start of the league campaign. And with several important players set to return, les Gones look they can continue the good run of results against Toulouse.

Henri Bedimo, Milan Bisevac, Bakary Kone and Nabil Fekir are all unavailable, but Yoann Gourcuff should be in contention.

Verdict

Following numerous changes to the playing squad, Toulouse have yet to hit the ground running and that is something very good Lyon side will be looking to exploit. Les Gones already have several good performances behind them and they certainly appear to be favourites to win at Stade Municipal.

Top pick: Lyon Draw no bet   2.15 (23/20) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 1: Away win   3.10 (21/10) @ Coral

Alternative pick 2: Half-time draw   2.10 (11/10) @ Stan James

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