Strasbourg v Lyon

Strasbourg v Lyon Preview

Strasbourg will be plotting an improvement to last season's 15th place finish in the French top flight this time around as they prepare for the forthcoming visit of Lyon to their Stade de la Meinau on Sunday evening which concludes the opening day fixtures of this season's campaign.

Strasbourg finished last term without a win in their final three games of the season, although they did pick up points in draws with Troyes and most impressive of all, a 1-1 draw with the Ligue 1 title winners, PSG, but they also suffered a 2-1 defeat away from home at Lorient on the final day.

Nevertheless, Strasbourg will be keen to replicate the sort of form that saw them post back-to-back wins against Nantes and Nice beforehand as well as victories gained over Ajaccio and Reims shortly before that.

Strasbourg started last season in dreadful form, especially at their Stade de la Meinau as the hosts failed to win any of their opening 11 games on home soil which consisted of six draws and five defeats but as the season wore on, Strasbourg started to find their feet and the hosts lost just two more games in their final eight on home turf, picking up five wins in the process.

Lyon finished last season's Ligue 1 campaign in a disappointing seventh place which resulted in the visitors failing to capture a European spot for this upcoming season and losses on the road at Clermont 2-1 and Nice 3-1 ultimately put paid to ambitions of a top five finish.

The bigger picture shows Lyon have lost just three of their previous 14 games in the French top flight overall while collecting eight wins along the way, which includes victories gained on their travels at Angers, PSG, Toulouse and Sunday's upcoming opponents, Strasbourg, so Lyon will be eager to ensure their place in Europe this time around.

The visitors have lost their last two away games on the trot though in Ligue 1 and with this upcoming fixture against Strasbourg being the opening game of the season for both teams, this might just level the playing field somewhat and perhaps even in Strasbourg's favour.

Strasbourg v Lyon Verdict

Strasbourg's home improvements towards the end of the last campaign might just stand the hosts in good stead for this upcoming tussle against Lyon, despite the visitors holding the upper hand in previous meetings, winning four out of the previous six encounters against their hosts.

As Lyon had lost their last two matches on their outings on the trot, this might just leave the door ajar for Strasbourg to spring an early surprise in this season's new Ligue 1 campaign and this may not be out of the realms of reality either as the bookies have priced these teams almost identical in terms of odds for a win.

Therefore, our main bet will be Strasbourg win @ 2.55

Other side bets worth considering:

Strasbourg win & Under 2.5 goals @ 6.50

Correct score: Strasbourg 2-0 @ 15.00