Lyon vs Toulouse prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2025-01-17 20:05.
[p]Over the last three seasons, Lyon have made a habit of finishing strongly, accumulating more points in the second half of the campaign than the first. That has often gone some way to making up for an underwhelming start, but given their standing at the midway point in Ligue 1 in 2024/25, Pierre Sage’s side have a strong chance of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2019 if they continue the recent trend.[/p]
[p]The manager has guided his club to sixth place in the top-flight ahead of this round, although their position in the table has taken a hit after two defeats from their last three league outings (W1). The most recent of those was 2-1 reversal against Brest, a performance the boss described as “sterile”, but a return to Parc Olympique Lyonnais should inspire a return to form, as Les Gones have won four home games in a row across all competitions.[/p]
[p]That is bad news for opponents Toulouse, who have not won any of the last 17 H2Hs (D2, L15), conceding 3+ goals on ten occasions! The visitors also make the long trip east on the back of a 2-1 defeat at home to Strasbourg last weekend, after which manager Carles MartĂnez Novell described himself as feeling “very angry” at the performance of both his team and officials.[/p]
[p]Le TĂ©fĂ©cĂ© have won six of their last nine matches in Ligue 1 (L3), while five of those victories have been accompanied by a clean sheet – three more than they managed in the opening eight matches of the campaign. That means they have a chance of qualifying for Europe for just the second time in 16 years, but goals might prove to be a problem in achieving that, as no team outside of the bottom three has netted fewer than their 19 strikes.[/p]
[p]Key battle: Lyon will be desperate for Malick Fofana to bring his shooting boots, as he has never lost a professional game in which he has scored (W16, D3). Toulouse’s best attacking outlet might be Zakaria Aboukhlal, and he has netted first or last in each of his last seven goalscoring appearances.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Only two of Toulouse’s eight away fixtures have seen both teams score, a joint-low for Ligue 1.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Matt Jones[/i][/p]