Lyon vs Man United prediction, expected line-ups, how to watch and stats
Lyon will welcome Man United to the Groupama Stadium on Thursday night for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final.
The Red Devils will hope to extend their unbeaten record against their French hosts, though we’re not sure that fixtures played over a decade ago hold much relevance.
United’s preparations for this season-defining clash were less than ideal, as Ruben Amorim’s side struggled to one point last week, losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest and drawing 0-0 with Man City.
Meanwhile, Lyon extended their magnificent run of form to eight wins from 10 matches, beating Lille to leapfrog them in the race for Europe and close in on a Champions League spot.
They flexed their muscles and showed their might at home, coming from a goal down in the opening minute, navigating injury setbacks, and rotating their attack while still winning 2-1 and creating better chances.
The quality of Lyon’s attack and the nature of the atmosphere will put Amorim’s side to the test on Thursday, yet we’ve seen them rise to similar occasions before.
As bad as they were defensively, they didn’t shy away when drawing 3-3 with Galatasaray last season or scoring late to draw 3-3 with Porto this season.
They were a match for Fenerbache earlier in this campaign, and even in their current form, they’re still good enough to win the Europa League on paper.
Lyon vs Man United prediction:
On the one hand, you can see areas of improvement in this United team, who continue to get healthier, and they boast a pretty strong Europa League record.
On the other hand, they’re still relatively shambolic, and the Groupama Stadium is an extremely hard place to go.
Lyon may be fifth in Ligue 1, but there’s an argument to be made that this team has the potential to be better than the class of 2019/20 that thrashed Man City.
Thiago Almada and Rayan Cherki are good enough to run rings around this team when they’re at their best.
United were fortunate to claim a 1-1 draw away to Real Sociedad and have already used their get out of jail free cards up away to Viktoria Plzen and Porto.
The draw no bet market is mightily tempting as it offers a fair price and the security blanket of a draw, though it’s hard to say no to the value offered by the win market.
In the end, we’ll respect the quality this United team has on paper and settle for more cautious bets during a watching brief of the first leg.
Lyon team news
Lyon suffered a serious setback over the weekend as tricky winger Ernest Nuamah was stretched off with a severe ACL injury in the 2-1 win over Lille.
Lyon’s star man, Rayan Cherki, who was being rested, entered the action after seven minutes.
He’ll return to the starting lineup to join World Cup winner Thiago Almada, Corentin Tolisso and Euro 2024 star Georges Mikautadze in attack.
There are more familiar faces further back, as another former Arsenal man, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, lines up at right-back.
There’s another World Cup winner in the ranks with Nicolas Tagliafico at left-back, while Nemanja Matic, who spent eight years in the Premier League with Chelsea and United, anchors the midfield.
Lyon expected line-up
Perri – Maitland-Niles, Mata, Niakhate, Tagliafico – Tessman, Matic – Cherki, Almada, Tolisso – Mikautadze
Man United team news
There was some good news for Amorim at the weekend as he was able to name Kobbie Mainoo on the bench. He’ll likely remain there on Thursday and could be joined by Matthijs de Ligt.
Lisandro Martinez, Jonny Evans, Ayden Heaven and Amad Diallo are still ruled out.
We may see an unchanged side from the team that drew 0-0 with Man City at the weekend, though Alejandro Garnacho is hardly commanding a starting place, so Mason Mount or Joshua Zirkzee may feature.
Christian Eriksen has seen minutes in this Europa League campaign and would be another option if Bruno Fernandes was to drop deeper.
United’s injury list may mean we see Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui, Harry Maguire, Leny Yoro and Patrick Dorgu again.
Man United expected line-up
Onana – Mazraoui, Maguire, Yoro – Dalot, Casemiro, Ugarte, Dorgu – Fernandes, Garnacho – Hojlund
Lyon vs Man United: How to watch and listen
Thursday’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final between Lyon and Man United will be shown live on TNT Sports 1. Live commentary will be on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
Lyon vs Man United stats:
– Lyon are enjoying their best run of the season so far, winning eight of their last 10 matches
– Lyon have avoided defeat in 18 of their last 20 Europa League fixtures
– Lyon are unbeaten in six European games against English opposition, most recently winning 2-1 and 3-1 away to Man City in successive seasons
– Man United boast an unbeaten European record against Lyon, winning two and drawing two
– Man United have avoided defeat in 20 of 21 Europa League fixtures, winning 14 and drawing six
– Man United have avoided defeat in the first leg of their previous 11 European knockout ties
