Lyonnais vs Saint-Etienne - Hubert Fournier's Lyon host rivals St Etienne with eye on cementing second place

Posted Saturday, November 07, 2015 by PA

Lyon play host to rivals St Etienne in the standout fixture of Ligue 1 this weekend.

The two sides, both on 22 points heading into Sunday night's match, endured contrasting fortunes in Europe this week.

Lyon, who are unbeaten in their last four games in France's top flight, face an early exit from the Champions League after another poor European showing.

The French club were on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline at home to Zenit St Petersburg which leaves them rooted to the foot of Group H with just a single point.

To stand any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages, Lyon must now win both of their remaining fixtures against Valencia and Gent and hope that other results go in their favour. It would appear a tall order for Hubert Fournier's side.

In contrast, St Etienne are well-placed to advance out of their group in the Europa League after a comfortable 3-0 victory at home to Dnipro on Thursday evening.

Kevin Monnet-Paquet, Robert Beric and Romain Hamouma were all on target for the hosts to put daylight between themselves and Dnipro in Group G.

Domestically, Paris St Germain are the runaway leaders in Ligue 1, and are already 10 points clear of their rivals with 12 games gone.

Lyon are in second and St Etienne fourth, but both sides are on the same number of points. Angers, in third, split the two rival clubs.

Lyon were expected to press on this term following a strong campaign which saw Alexandre Lacazette emerge as a top striker. The France striker scored 29 goals in all competitions last season, but he has been on target just three times this term.

There are problems elsewhere, too. The summer signings have failed to have the desired effect and injuries have also been a problem.

For St Etienne, they will be looking to build on their impressive victory on Thursday when they head to the Stade Gerland.

And the visitors, so often the underdogs in this derby, have enjoyed a strong record at the home of their rivals in recent years with an unbeaten run of four matches.

It will also be the final match the two sides play out at Stade Gerland before Lyon move to their new ground next season so both teams, and their supporters, will be hoping to give the historic old ground the send-off it warrants.