After snatching a late draw at home in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final showdown with Manchester United, Lyon now must make the trip to England and attempt to upset the Red Devils on their own patch.
The Old Trafford contest will be shown live on TNT Sports 1 & Discovery+ on Thursday, April 17 with kick-off at 20:00.
Tip 1
The first leg produced four goals, albeit it took until the 96th minute to get there, and this game could follow a similar pattern.
Lyon have scored at least two goals in their last 13 games in all competitions, averaging over 2.7 goals per game on their own, with that run of games averaging 4.2 goals.
The recent dour stalemate with Manchester City, meanwhile, was a remarkable first clean sheet at Old Trafford for United in 13 games since Everton visited in early December.
The 4-1 reverse against Newcastle at St James’ Park was another poor indictment of the defensive troubles that exist. The goals should flow again here.
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Tip 2
Manchester United really should be protecting a lead in this Europa League tie upon their return from France, but goalkeeping woes for Andre Onana in the first leg means that they are not.
Since that game, the Red Devils have suffered another damaging 4-1 loss at Newcastle in the Premier League on Sunday, while Lyon got some extra confidence with a 3-1 Ligue 1 win away at Auxerre.
Ruben Amorim’s side are conceding too many goals and have only won two of their last nine games in all competitions, those successes coming here when Real Sociedad finished with 10 men and away at a fairly hopeless Leicester City in the Premier League.
The travelling French side, meanwhile, have lost just one of their last nine, winning seven times. With just five home wins in the last 13 attempts in all competitions, United are very hard to fancy as favourites and Lyon could stun them.
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Matthijs de Ligt has missed the last three games for United, while Amad Diallo and Lisandro Martinez are also in the treatment room. Onana was left out of the trip to Newcastle after his errors in the first leg, but replacement Altay Bayindir conceded four goals in a chastening defeat.
Man United Predicted XI: Onana; Mazraoui, Maguire, Yoro; Dalot, Casemiro, Ugarte, Dorgu; Fernandes, Garnacho; Zirkzee.
Malick Fofana, who is sidelined with an ankle injury, was recently joined in the treatment room by fellow young winger Ernest Nuamah. Both are doubts again.
Lyon Predicted XI: Perri; Maitland-Niles, Mata, Niakhate, Tagliafico; Tessmann, Matic; Cherki, Tolisso, Almada; Mikautadze.
Last week’s 2-2 draw was the fifth competitive meeting of these clubs and the third draw. All three games in France have ended level, but United have won both games here, 2-1 in 2004 and 1-0 in 2008, both times in the Champions League – latterly in a last-16 tie.
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