Lyon enter this game with one eye on the Champions League clash against Real, so it is highly unlikely les Gones will give their best even though they need a victory in order to stay in the title race. Nancy, on the other hand, improved their survival chances as they beat Auxerre and are now looking for another good result.

Lyon beat rivals St Etienne

After their domestic domination came to an end two years ago, Lyon have been struggling to match the up-and-coming Ligue 1 sides such as Lille, Marseille and Bordeaux, despite having a really strong team on paper. Les Gones had major problems this season and they are still seven points behind leaders Lille, although last week’s 4:1 victory over rivals St Etienne hinted the poor run of form could soon be over. Lyon now have to beat Nancy in order to remain close to the top of the standings, but with Champions League clash with Real due next Wednesday, Claude Puel looks likely to rest some of his star players, which could see les Gones experience some problems against very good Nancy side. Even with second string attack the hosts should be able to score one or two goals, but their shaky defence doesn’t look capable of coping with Nancy’s counterattacks.

Ederson is the only player missing out through injury, but Bastos, Gomis and few other players could be rested, meaning Delgado, Briand and Pied look likely to start.

Nancy finally recorded a win

Nancy are one of the strangest teams in Ligue 1 and have been holding that reputation for quite a while now. ASNL are the team that can beat anyone in France on their day but they also tend to lose to weakest sides in the league, while their counterattacking style of play usually see them record better results away from home. Following the poor start of the season, Nancy managed to find their form and they ended the first part of the league campaign in mid table, but they then lost first four league games after the winter break and slipped into the dangerous zone. Nonetheless, Pablo Correa’s side proved some of their potential by beating relegation rivals Auxerre and they now enter the Lyon game without any pressure. They are still looking to take advantage of Lyon’s preoccupation with Real game and get a valuable point from Gerland.

Samba Diakite returns to the side after recovering from injury, but Bracigliano, Alo’o Efoulou, Brison and Lemaitre are out with injuries.

Verdict

Seeing that Lyon are far from impressive this season and that they will not be fully concentrated on this match, odds of 1.50 (1/2 ) offered by Bodog on home win don’t look too tempting. With both sides in good scoring form, it is better to bet on over 2.5 goals.

Our prediction: Over 2.5 goals

Odds: 2.00 (1/1)

Bookmaker: Paddy Power