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It was a surprisingly poor opening performance and result for Olympique Lyonnais last weekend as they were hammered by Stade Rennais. They now take on a Monaco side that began what could be a title challenge by edging past newly-promoted Saint-Etienne.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 24th August, 2024 - UK – 4:00pm / US ET – 11:00am / US PT – 8:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TBC / US – beIN Sports or beIN Sports de Espanol
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – TBC / US – Fubo or Fanatiz
LYON PREVIEW: SECOND SEASON SYNDROME FOR SAGE
After the sackings of both Laurent Blanc and Fabio Grosso before December last season, Olympique Lyonnais found themselves sitting rock-bottom and in a desperate position. Pierre Sage was given the first-team job and he led them to sixth and the UEFA Europa League this season, as well as the Coupe de France, collecting the most points in Ligue 1 after his appointment.
However, after a busy summer transfer window for Lyon, they began the season in fairly humiliating fashion as they suffered a 3-0 loss to Stade Rennais last weekend with goals coming from Benjamin Bourigeaud, Amine Gouiri and Henrik Meister.
MONACO PREVIEW: MONAGASQUE HIT THE GAS
Under the management of former Borussia Monchengladbach boss Adi Hutter, Monaco have one of the most intense and entertaining styles of football anywhere in Europe. The Monagasque have brought in some impressive signings this summer, too, as they look to launch a title challenge.
The visitors began the 2024/25 season by backing up their Joan Gamper Trophy triumph against Barcelona in which they won by three goals to nil by edging past newly-promoted Saint-Etienne by a goal to nil last weekend with a 28th minute winner being scored by Japanese international Takumi Minamino.
LYON TEAM NEWS: REDISCOVERING THE MIDAS TOUCH
The tale of King Midas is a tragic one and Pierre Sage will be keen to avoid his fate but the young and inexperienced coach will like to experience everything he touches turning to gold once again as he tries to bed some new players in.
Georges Mikautadze has bolstered what is now looking like an almost overly stacked attack and him missing a penalty at Rennes did not help matters, despite the Georgian proving himself yet again to be a good threat.
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Perri; Clinton Mata, Caleta-Car, Niakhate, Abner; Caqueret, Matic, Mangala; Nuamah, Mikautadze, Benrahma
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
MONACO TEAM NEWS: FRUSTRATING GOLOVIN INJURY
On the opening day of the season, albeit not expected to start, Russia international attacking midfielder Aleksandr Golovin was unavailable with an ankle injury and he is expected to remain sidelined.
Monaco could hand a debut to new signing, defender Jordan Teze from PSV Eindhoven, but the principality club are expected to remain unchanged after an opening day victory.
PREDICTED XI (4-4-2): Kohn; Vanderson, Kehrer, Salisu, Jakobs; Minamino, Camara, Zakaria, Ben Seghir; Embolo, Balogun
UNAVAILABLE: Majecki (Injured), Golovin (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
LYON VS MONACO PREDICTION
Lyon will be, quite simply, needing to show a response here and will be desperate to show that they were not a flash in the pan under Pierre Sage last season. Between early-December and the end of the campaign, from Sage’s appointment, they collected the most points in Ligue 1. Monaco, though, are a tough opponent and will be confident of inflicting further pain upon the Parc OL outfit. Lyon enjoyed some thrillers in the latter stages of last season, whilst Monaco are usually entertaining to watch so both teams scoring seems a good bet.
LYON VS MONACO TIP: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE