Dijon host Lorient on Sunday as the 2020-21 Ligue 1 season continues, with both sides looking to bounce back from defeat in their last league matches.
The hosts remain bottom after a 4-0 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain, with Lorient narrowly outside the relegation zone after a 1-0 loss at home to Marseille.
Match preview
Moise Kean and Kylian Mbappe proved too much to handle for Dijon, with both forwards scoring a brace for Thomas Tuchel's side, with no repeat of last season's stunning 2-1 victory over Ligue 1's strongest outfit ever looking on the cards.
There is certainly no shame in losing to PSG given the Parisians' superiority over the rest of Ligue 1 across the vast majority of the last decade; actually the visitors played okay at times, too, earning 10 corners and having three shots on target. However, Stephane Jobard will be increasingly concerned with his side's position in the table.
Still winless after eight matches, and five points adrift of their forthcoming opponents who occupy 17th position, it could become a fruitless campaign for a side who are currently in their fifth consecutive campaign in France's top flight.
However, there have been signs of improvement at home in recent weeks, with both of their points this season coming in their last two home matches in score draws with Montpellier and Rennes. Jobard will be optimistic, then, that a first win of the campaign could be forthcoming against a Lorient side who were only promoted last season.
After spending three seasons in Ligue 2, Lorient were guided by Christophe Pelissier to promotion last season in emphatic style, with his side in first place prior to the curtailment of all French football due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He will be encouraged by his side's start upon their return to the top flight, taking seven points from their opening eight games to sit just outside the relegation zone. Survival will be the ultimate aim for Lorient this season, as it so often is for promoted sides in any division.
They were unfortunate, too, in the 1-0 defeat to Marseille last weekend, matching a side who are currently competing in the Champions League in terms of shots on target but never quite threatening Andre Villas Boas's team as much as Pelissier would have liked.
Scoring goals has certainly not been a problem for the Ligue 1 newcomers on the whole, though, with Yoane Wissa, Pierre-Yves Hamel and Adrian Grbic all scoring more than one league goal each this season. Pelissier is likely to go on the offensive against a Dijon side who have conceded the joint-most goals in the league, and do not possess a single player with more than one goal to their name so far this season.
Dijon Ligue 1 form: LLDLDL
Lorient Ligue 1 form: LDLLWL
Team News
While Dijon are struggling in terms of their league position, Jobard is in the enviable position of seemingly having no injury issues to contend with, with Roger Assale seemingly fit once again.
He must decide whether to make changes in an attempt to tighten up a leaky defensive unit against a Lorient side who have scored more goals than 14 of the sides in the division.
For Lorient, it remains to be seen whether left-back Vincent Le Goff returns from injury having missed the last two matches. Former Newcastle United winger Sylvain Marveaux is available for selection once more but the 34-year-old is unlikely to contend for a place in the side.
Pelissier may be tempted to restore club-record signing Grbic to the starting XI ahead of Terem Moffi in attack.
Dijon possible starting lineup:
Allagbe; Boey, Ecuele Manga, Panzo, Ngonda; Ndong, Lautoa, Dina-Ebimbe; Balde, Konate, Chouiar
Lorient possible starting lineup:
Nardi; Mendes, Laporte, Gravillon, Morel; Boisgard, Chalobah, Abergel, Wissa; Hamel, Grbic
We say: Dijon 1-2 Lorient
With Lorient scoring more goals than every side except Montpellier in the bottom half so far this campaign, and only Brest conceding as many as Dijon, we can see the visitors outscoring the home side here to put considerable distance between the two sides in terms of points on the board.
