A visit from Olympique Lyonnais to the Parc des Princes is never a trivial affair. The clash between Paris and Lyon is one of the most eagerly anticipated fixtures of the season in France, and, much like the thrilling first encounter at the Groupama Stadium, these matches are almost always thrilling affairs. Despite a limited squad, Les Gones sit fifth in Ligue 1 and are well and truly in the race for European qualification. After six games without a win, the Rhône side got back on track last week with a 2-0 victory over Lorient.
For their part, Paris Saint-Germain are also facing a crucial end to the season in the league. Still in a race for the title, the Rouge et Bleu saw Lens close the gap to just one point, albeit with two games in hand. Having secured their place in the Champions League semi-finals earlier this week, Luis Enrique’s men will be looking to build on their excellent form, with a current run of six consecutive wins.
2 – Paris Saint-Germain (14) and Olympique Lyonnais (15) are the two teams with the most clean sheets in the league this season. However, the last five matches between the two sides in the top flight have produced an average of 4.8 goals per game.
46 – Paris have scored in their last 46 home games in Ligue 1, the longest current run in Europe’s top five leagues.
100 – Lyon is the team Paris has faced most often under Luis Enrique, having won every single match against them across all competitions (six wins from six matches).
In Lyon’s goal, Paulo Fonseca will rely on Dominik Greif. The Slovakian international has been one of Lyon’s standout performers this season and will be preferred to former Paris Saint-Germain player Rémy Descamps. In central defence, Moussa Niakhaté has also established himself as a key part of Les Gones’ starting eleven, alongside Clinton Mata. Together, they form a complementary and effective central defensive partnership, which could be supported on the right by Ainsley Maitland-Niles. In contrast to the England international, the Argentine World Cup winner Nicolas Tagliafico is suspended for the match and is therefore likely to be replaced by the Brazilian international Abner.
As for Ruben Kluivert, the versatile Lyon defender has returned to training and could make an appearance during the match. In midfield, OL will be without their captain and talisman Corentin Tolisso (12 goals and 3 assists in all competitions this season). Suffering from an adductor injury, the French international is expected to be replaced by Noah Nartey, who has made a fine start since joining the Rhône side this winter. But above all, the Portuguese manager is likely to rely on Tyler Morton, the true lynchpin of Lyon's midfield.
The question remains as to whether Tanner Tessmann or Orel Mangala will take the third and final midfield spot at kick-off. Whilst the former offers greater defensive solidity, the latter is gradually regaining his form and could even be in contention for a World Cup place with Belgium. What is certain is that Mathys de Carvalho no longer seems to feature in the Lyon coaching staff’s plans, whilst Khalis Merah has regularly been on the bench in recent weeks. The France U19 international is still likely to make an appearance during the game, especially as his versatility could prove useful to his manager, who is having to cope with numerous absences in attack.
Firstly, Malick Fofana, who has suffered another ankle injury and will miss the match against Paris. Ghana international Ernest Nuamah has also been sidelined for some time, and he has recently been joined on the sidelines by the promising Rémi Himbert (3 goals, 1 assist). It’s the same story for Pavel Sulc (14 goals, 7 assists), Lyon’s leading striker this season, who is once again absent. Lyon therefore have few options and are likely to start Afonso Moreira (6 goals, 9 assists) on the left wing and Roman Yaremchuk (2 goals, 1 assist) at centre forward. Finally, on the right wing, Endrick (6 goals, 6 assists) will naturally be expected to start, whilst Rachid Ghezzal is likely to take his place on the bench.
