Lyon vs PSG

Mid-table Lyon will look to bounce back from a disappointing run of form down the tail-end of 2021 when they take on warm Ligue 1 title favourites Paris Saint-Germain at the Groupama Stadium.

Lyon went into the winter break on a run of three Ligue 1 draws in a row, which may not necessarily be a bad omen going into this fixture. Indeed, the last seven times they drew three top-flight games in a row, ‘Les Gones’ halted that streak with a victory. That said, they have lost their last two Ligue 1 home meetings with Paris, as many defeats as they suffered in their previous 14 top-flight home H2Hs in the competition (W8, D4). Keen to avoid their first bottom-half finish since 1995/96, Peter Bosz’s side will call upon a free-scoring attack that has found the back of the net in their last 18 Ligue 1 outings at the Groupama Stadium. Worryingly, though, they head into proceedings on a run of eight home league matches without a clean sheet (W3, D1, L4).

As for Paris Saint-Germain, an overwhelming 4-0 Coupe de France win over lower-league side Vannes to start the new calendar year extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to eight matches (W5, D3). Since losing 2-1 at Manchester City in their mouth-watering Champions League clash in November, Mauricio Pochettino’s men have alternated between victories and stalemates across their subsequent five competitive travels (W3, D2), netting 3+ goals in each win in that run. However, removing other competitions out of the equation, ‘Les Parisiens’ have drawn three of their last four Ligue 1 fixtures (W1), all of which featured under 2.5 overall goals. Additionally, after going winless in their last two away league games (D1, L1), PSG could fail to win three consecutive Ligue 1 road games for the first time since April 2019.