Aiming to keep their hopes of a top-five finish in the Ligue 1 table alive with two league games left to play, Lyon will play host to Reims on Saturday.

Les Gones currently sit seventh with sixth-placed Rennes and fifth-placed Lille three and four points better off respectively, meaning Lyon can only focus on winning their remaining two matches and hoping the sides above them fail to do so.

Match preview

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After climbing up to seventh spot in Ligue 1 with three consecutive victories in early April, Lyon saw their hopes of a top-five finish and European qualification take a fresh hit as they suffered a 2-1 defeat in a tough test at home to Marseille, leaving Laurent Blanc's side on 50 points from 32 outings.

They would quickly rebound from that setback, though, firstly returning to winning ways away at Strasbourg before coming out of an eventful contest against Montpellier with a 5-4 victory.

After Alexandre Lacazette opened the scoring, Elye Wahi netted four unanswered goals for the visitors, with two coming quickly either side of half time, but two more from Lacazette and a Dejan Lovren goal saw the game tied at four apiece heading into injury time before the forward netted a fourth of his own from the penalty spot deep into injury time to seal three more crucial points for Les Gones.

Following that late turnaround, Lyon then saw their top-five hopes damaged once again in a 2-1 defeat away at Clermont Foot, after going ahead through Lacazette, before they most recently hosted fourth-placed Monaco last weekend and went behind in the opening two minutes, only to draw level through their in-form forward and go ahead thanks to Maxence Caqueret's goal on the hour mark before Rayan Cherki wrapped up a crucial triumph with his side's third 12 minutes from time.

That result kept their hopes of a fifth-placed finish alive, although with Lille and Rennes also both triumphing last time out, Blanc's side remain seventh with a four-point gap to the former, meaning they need to win their final two games and hope the two sides above them slip up.

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Their visitors, meanwhile, travel to the Parc Olympique Lyonnais hoping to climb back into the top half of the Ligue 1 table in the final two games, having enjoyed vast improvement following Will Still's appointment as manager early in the campaign.

He stepped up to the hot seat in mid-October with Les Rouges et Blancs on just eight points from their opening 10 matches, but in his 26 games at the helm in the French top flight, they have managed to add 43 points to that tally, picking up 11 victories along the way.

After starting with a 17-game unbeaten run in league action under their new boss, Reims have since seen their form dip, as they lost four of the next six outings following that run, before bouncing back with a victory at home to Lille in early May as Marshall Munetsi netted the only goal of the game.

That was followed by a tough trip to second-placed Lens, and Still's men were beaten 2-1 despite going ahead through Folarin Balogun, before most recently hosting basement side and already-relegated Angers in their bid to leapfrog Lorient and regain 10th place ahead of the final two games.

They twice went ahead through Junya Ito and Balogun, but levellers from Halid Sabanovic and Himad Abdelli forced Reims to settle for a disappointing 2-2 draw on home turf, and with that keeping them just a point behind 10th place, Les Rouges et Blancs will be keen to finish the campaign on a high and move back into the top half, starting with what would be an impressive away win.

Team News

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After their important victory last time out, Lyon should come into Saturday's game with an unchanged starting XI, and captain Alexandre Lacazette is bound to again lead the line having netted 26 goals and provided five assists in 33 Ligue 1 appearances this term, including six goals in their last three outings.

Likely in a 4-2-3-1 setup with Moussa Dembele again missing out on a starting place, the frontman will have support from Rayan Cherki, while Jeffinho and Bradley Barcola should operate on the wings.

Elsewhere, Corentin Tolisso and Maxence Caqueret will continue their partnership in the engine room with Houssem Aouar confined to the bench, while Sinaly Diomande and Castello Lukeba will be given the nod in the middle of the back four ahead of German veteran Jerome Boateng.

Reims have a prolific key man of their own in attack, with Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun having starred throughout the season with 20 goals in Ligue 1, while winger Junya Ito is another danger man.

Marshall Munetsi will continue to feature at the base of the midfield, having been crucial throughout the season, contributing seven goals and four assists in the league, with Dion Lopy and Jens Cajuste battling to join him in the engine room.

Yunis Abdelhamid is a mainstay at the heart of the defence and will be partnered by Emmanuel Agbadou, with Maxime Busi and Thomas Foket likely completing the back four in full-back roles.

Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Kumbedi, Diomande, Lukeba, Tagliafico; Caqueret, Tolisso; Barcola, Cherki, Jeffinho; Lacazette

Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf; Busi, Abdelhamid, Agbadou, Foket; Munetsi, Cajuste; Ito, Flips, Maolida; Balogun

We say: Lyon 2-1 Reims

On the back of a confidence-boosting win, and knowing they need all three points to keep their European hopes alive, Lyon should have enough to see off a resilient Reims side on home turf at the weekend.

Written by
Sam Varley

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