1 week Ago By Anthony Nolan, SportsMole
With their place in Europe at stake in Ligue 1 , Lyon will travel to face Auxerre at Stade de l'Abbe-Deschamps on Sunday. AJA will be looking to make it four wins from their last five this weekend, while Les Gones will be hoping to start April with back-to-back victories. Match preview Christophe Pelissier's Auxerre are enjoying their best spell of form this year after losing just one of their eight most recent games and winning four of their last six, including an impressive 3-0 triumph over second-placed Marseille in late February.
Last Sunday, AJA took all three points on the road to Rennes thanks to a dramatic late winner from captain Jubal, who headed home from Gaetan Perrin's cross after a corner in the 89th minute. That victory has Pelissier's side 10th in the table with 38 points, a comfortable 11 above 16th-placed Le Havre in the relegation playoff spot, but also nine behind sixth-placed Nice, who currently occupy the division's spot for entry into the Conference League qualifiers. With only six games left to play, Sunday's hosts will be dreaming of making an 11th-hour push towards the European places, and given that they have lost just three times at home across all competitions this season, they will take confidence from running out on their own turf.
Should Auxerre manage to defy the odds and earn a win against the Europa League quarter-finalists, then they could find themselves a more surmountable six points from playing in Europe next term, though defeat would almost certainly put an end to their outside chances. Meanwhile, Paulo Fonseca's Lyon are also in strong form ahead of this clash, having won six of their last eight in Ligue 1, and drawn 2-2 in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Manchester United on Thursday. Most recently in domestic competition, Les Gones came from behind to beat European rivals Lille 2-1 at the Groupama Stadium thanks to a spot kick from striker Alexandre Lacazette and a 70th-minute winner from star man Rayan Cherki.
That win moved Fonseca's side up to fifth in the table after Nice lost their game, and L'OL are now only one point behind fourth-placed Strasbourg and two behind third-placed Monaco, though they are just one ahead of Les Aiglons and Les Dogues. With such a tightly packed group in the hunt for UEFA competition in 2025-26, Sunday's visitors will want to avoid any slip ups, but having won only two of their last seven on the road in the top flight, fans will be anxious about potentially falling out of the top six this weekend. If Lyon can manage what would be just their third away league win of 2025 against Auxerre, then they could shoot up to third in the table and find themselves in the automatic Champions League places, though even a draw could see them fall back down to seventh.
W L W D W W L W W W L W W W W L W D Team News Auxerre will be without midfielder Elisha Owusu once again as he serves a suspension for accumulating yellow cards, though Nathan Buayi-Kiala could be back in contention after working his way back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury. That being said, Buayi-Kiala is likely to start on the bench as he builds fitness, so expect to see Han-Noah Massengo and Kevin Danois line up in the centre of the park on Sunday, though the latter could be replaced by Assane Diousse if he is ready to play. As for Lyon, winger Ernest Nuamah is set to miss the rest of the season after being taken off after just seven minutes against Lille last weekend.
In his absence, Fonseca could opt for the same forward line that started against Manchester United in midweek, featuring Rayan Cherki, Thiago Almada and Georges Mikautadze. In midfield, Tanner Tessman and Paul Akoukou are both doubts for the trip to Auxerre, so Nemanja Matic could join Corentin Tolisso and Jordan Veretout after sitting out against his former club on Thursday. Leon; Hoever, Diomande, Jubal, Akpa, Mensah; Perrin, Massengo, Danois, Onaiu; Sinayoko Perri; Maitland-Niles, Mata, Niakhate, Tagliafico; Veretout, Matic, Tolisso; Almada; Cherki, Mikautadze We say: Auxerre 1-1 Lyon Auxerre have been in strong form in recent weeks and have proven themselves against even the top clubs in France, so expect a close-fought game.
Additionally, the hosts' excellent home record throughout the season suggests that Lyon are in for a tough match, and the spoils are likely to be shared on Sunday. For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here . This article first appeared on SportsMole and was syndicated with permission.
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