Metz vs Olympique Lyonnais 22/02/20

22 February 2020

The two out-of-form sides go head-to-head at the Stade Municipal Saint-Symphorien this weekend as Metz take on Olympique Lyonnais.

Winless in their last three Ligue 1 (L1) outings (D2, L1), the hosts enter this round frantically looking over their shoulders as they sit just two points above the 18th-placed Dijon. Metz’s indifferent home form (W4, D4, L4) can be a major influence here, as well as the fact that they’ve suffered four defeats in their last five top-flight home H2Hs (W1). Notably, all four of their defeats in that period have yielded a margin of three goals or more, with three of them seeing Metz fail to get on the scoresheet. Massive goalscoring problems could also be setting Les Grenats back here, considering they’ve netted one goal or less in five of their previous six L1 home fixtures. Metz’s home action usually explodes into life after the break, with 63.33% (19) of the 30 L1 goals (scored/conceded) here coming in the second half.

Meanwhile, the visitors face something of a ‘must-win affair’ here if they were to bolster their top-three hopes as they sit seven points adrift of third-placed Rennes. They are in the midst of crisis, having failed to pick up a win in their last four league fixtures (D2, L2), and are experiencing huge problems in the attacking third. Indeed, Rudi Garcia’s men have scored under 1.5 goals in three of their previous four L1 matches, with three of the four goals they scored in that stretch coming in the first half. Les Gones’ drop-off in form has also seen them go from four consecutive L1 away games without a loss (W3, D1) to back-to-back defeats. Curiously though, all but one of Lyon’s last eight league road matches have produced over 2.5 goals, with seven seeing both teams on the scoresheet, too.