I previewed three games today and you can read one below, the other two were ranked "stronger " selections and, for obvious reasons, they are the most popular with subscribers/readers and therefore, harder to share on a public forum.

 

 

Lyon are 10th, 8 points off Champions League pace , but with 36 points still up for grabs and with one of the softest schedules remaining they will be looking to close in and keep top 3 possibilities open as long as possible. They have not finished lower than 7th since 1997, infact, they have been top 5 since 98-99 apart from that season when COVID ended matters early and anything short of that elite level will be seen as failure. XP puts them four points better off and only 4 adrift of the team in second place and whilst I do not doubt that they have gone backwards from last season, they are still close to "best of the rest" level in Ligue 1. They are coming off a 1-0 home loss to Lille, a team about whom we could write almost identically, but we at least know that OL have bouncebackability and they have not lost back to back fixtures since October 2019, going 10-8-0 next time out after a defeat, winning the last four .

 

Lorient are two points above the drop zone and their home ground is not the fortress it has been previously and they have won just 4/12 starts here this season. Goals are a real issue, just 21 all season which makes them lowest scorers in Ligue 1, last season they finished 16th , but were 9th highest scorers and they have "lost" 0.51 goals pg to date. I did suggest that might be the case, writing in very early season ...........

 

Lorient have the same number of points and an identical WLD record as Lille, but they have conceded five in their last two starts and gave up 8 to Lille in the two meetings last season, four goals in each, including a 4-1 defeat as host in February. They have one of the older squads, with a veteran midfield, but little experience up top and the late transfer window sale of Yoane Wissa, who left the dark side to join Brentford, is a big loss and they will miss his 10 goals and 5 assists from last season , he has not been replaced. They budget appears to have been increased by 11% , but I am not sure where or if it has  been spent and it is anyway, still only a third of that of Lille. Lorient have  a -1 goal difference, but xGD is -4.5 and  they have lost all four starts for xG.

 

They have won just 1/9 at home and are without CB Julien Laporte today, that is a big loss they have lost both games he has missed (conceded 5) and also lost the two other games in which he played less than an hour , conceding eight ! Last season they gave up 23 goals in the 9 games he sat out, 2+ in eight and that included a heavy defeat away to OL. Away win.

 

2 units Olympique Lyonnais -1 ball 2.52 asian line.

 

 

Good luck !