After one of the darkest days in the club's history last week, Lyon will seek to keep their attention on footballing matters when they travel to face Reims in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Lyon were handed a provisional relegation to Ligue 2 and a transfer ban for the upcoming January window following a huge amount of unpaid debts that have stacked up.

Match preview

The perilous financial situation Lyon find themselves off the pitch is in stark contrast to how they have performed on it in recent weeks under Pierre Sage.

Lyon's owner John Textor needs to find roughly €100m to pay off debts before the end of the season, or the club will be relegated to the second division next season, regardless of how well they perform this season.

In the Ligue 1 standings, Lyon are just one point and one place off the Champions League places, following a six-game unbeaten run domestically.

The only defeat Sage's side have suffered in the last 10 was against Besiktas in the Europa League, and they extended that fine run with a win in the Rhone-Alpes derby before the international break.

Alexandre Lacazette scored his first goal against rivals Saint-Etienne in over nine years when he netted the only goal in that 1-0 win, moving the captain into joint-second on the all-time club scorers chart.

Off-field distractions could coincide with trouble on the pitch too, as Sage now faces a very difficult week fixture-wise, starting with this trip to Reims, the long trek to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag on Thursday, before another tricky league encounter with Nice.

Getting to winter break still in top-four contention is all Sage can do, with a fire sale expected in the winter window, and no possibility of strengthening the squad in the market.

Reims are the team looking to kick Lyon while they are down this weekend, and after returning to winning ways shortly before the break, morale in the camp should be high.

New manager Luka Elsner took 14 points from his opening seven games in charge, but their form soon nosedived, suffering three straight defeats to Auxerre, Brest and Toulouse.

Reims bounced back with an impressive 3-0 win over Le Havre in their last outing though, allowing them to close the gap on the top four to just two points, but with just two points also separating them from the bottom half in a very congested league table, maintaining consistency will be key.

The Red and Whites face a difficult finish to 2024 though, facing in-form Lyon, Monaco and Lens, while also travelling to a Strasbourg side that have been tough to beat at home.

Home form of their own has not been particularly great either, as Reims have taken just seven points from a possible 15 here so far this season, but they did hold champions Paris Saint-Germain to draw last month.

Lyon have also proven favourable opponents for both club and manager recently, as Elsner has not lost any of his four career meetings against OL, while Reims are unbeaten in their last seven home games against their upcoming opponents.

Team News

Reims will be without the suspended Emmanuel Agbadou, after he amassed too many yellow cards, and the defender will watch on from the sidelines alongside the injured Mohammed Daramy and Reda Khadra.

Teddy Teuma has recently returned from injury and proved his fitness by playing twice for Malta during the international break, but it is unclear whether he will break back into the starting XI immediately.

However, Keito Nakamura and Junya Ito will face late fitness tests after travelling back from China, where their Japan side played as recently as Tuesday.

The vast majority of the Lyon team were on international duty, but the one doubt will be Abner, after he played in early hours of Wednesday morning for Brazil against Uruguay.

Needing to sell players in January means the likes of Said Benrahma, Wilfried Zaha, Ernest Nuamah, Georges Mikautadze and Gift Orban are all fighting for their futures at the club, and the latter was left out of the squad entirely once again in their win over St. Etienne.

Sage's front three picks itself at present, with captain Lacazette set to be flanked by Rayan Cherki and the in-form Malick Fofana.

Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf; Ab Kone, Okumu, Kipre, Akieme; Atangana Edoa, Munetsi, Am Kone; Ito, Diakite, Nakamura

Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lucas Perri; Maitland-Niles, Caleta-Car, Niakhate, Tagliafico; Matic, Veretout, Tolisso; Cherki, Lacazette, Fofana

We say: Reims 1-1 Lyon

With the chance to equal their best-ever home unbeaten run against Lyon, set initially back in 1974, Reims will look to pick up where they left off before the break, following that fine win over Le Havre.

In what has been a disastrous week for the Lyon faithful, they can take solace from the fact their side has been one of the most in-form teams in France of late, and they should be able to extend their domestic unbeaten run here.


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