Lyon vs Nantes prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-12-19 20:00.
Lyon manager Pierre Sage claims their recent revival has been so good that they could “sell the rights to Hollywood.” The interim boss guided his side to a shock 1-0 victory at high-flying Monaco on Friday night, as Lyon secured back-to-back wins for the first time since May, moving out of Ligue 1’s bottom two in the process and to within one point of safety.
It’s fairytale stuff for Sage, who never played professional football but is now charged with trying to keep one of France’s most famous teams in the top flight. He will hope Les Gones can keep the recent form going on their return to the Parc Olympique Lyonnais, where they have collected just six of an available 24 points this term (W1, D3, L4), comfortably their lowest return from their opening eight home league games this century.
That form will be music to the ears of opponents Nantes, who have won away at Lyon just once in 22 attempts (D4, L17) since 1996. In an incredible omen for the Canaries though, that victory 27 years ago also came on December 20th! The visitors would certainly welcome a repeat result, as they head into this fixture sitting in the bottom half of the table thanks to successive defeats.
The most recent of those losses was a 2-0 reversal at home to Brest, when new manager Jocelyn Gourvennec was critical of his team for not being clinical enough in the final third, as they failed to score for the fourth time in seven outings. Only three of those games have come since Gourvennec took the reins after the sacking of Antoine Kombouaré last month, although he has not enjoyed much of a honeymoon period, tasting success only once so far (L2).
Key battle: Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes has kept a joint-career high eight clean sheets against Nantes (W12, D4, L4). Looking to prevent him adding to that tally, Mostafa Mohamed has netted 11 of his 14 league goals for Nantes after half-time.
Hot stat: Lyon have conceded the most first half goals in Ligue 1 this season (15), whereas no defence has been breached more times after the break than Nantes (19)!