Lyon Vs Dijon
Lyon Vs Dijon Friday 28 August 2020 – 20:00 Kick-Off
French Ligue 1
Pick: Under 2.5 Goals
Odds: 5/4
Bookmaker: Unibet
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 25 August 2020)
Preview: Expectations have grown on the back of the club’s superb recent exploits in the Champions League, but how quickly can Lyon adjust to the rigours of Ligue 1? A positive start feels like a must as well, after such a disappointing 2019/20, which means the pressure is well and truly on ahead of Friday’s clash with Dijon at Groupama Stadium.
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Table of Contents
Lyon Preview – Huge improvements needed in 2020-21?
Les Gones will belatedly get their Ligue 1 season up and running on Friday, more than five months since last kicking a ball in the competition and only nine days after their Champions League semi-final loss to Bayern Munich. We got to witness the best of this team in the latter, excelling against Europe’s finest, but it was their underachievement in the league which means nights like those are far away right now.
There will be no Champions League this season. Or Europa League, for what it is worth. In theory, this should make for a more concerted push towards the top of the table, where this club expects and demands to be. Yet this likely means losing one or two, possibly even more, prized assets between now and the window closing, and we therefore await with some intrigue Rudi Garcia’s team selection for the visit of Dijon.
According to Expected Goals, Lyon were the third-best team in France in 2019/20 and were unfortunate to finish a lowly seventh (W11 D7 L10). That implies there is a decent team in there somewhere. Recent performances in Europe, namely that outstanding 3-1 win over Man City, reinforce this notion. It also helps when your star man is regularly available, which they hope will be the case with Memphis Depay.
Dijon Preview – Jobard has work cut out this season?
So far at least, Dijon have relied mainly on the loan market to bolster their ranks ahead of what many suspects is going to be another long and arduous campaign towards the bottom end of Ligue 1. Coach Stephane Jobard certainly has a big task on his hands replicating last season’s finish of 16th, which is precisely where this team deserved to finish according to Expected Goals.
Had last season’s Ligue 1 not been cut short, though, there was a valid argument to be had that this team would have struggled to retain their top-flight status. Dijon managed only three wins across the final fourteen rounds (W3 D6 L5) and were winless in five prior to beating rock-bottom Toulouse 2-1 at home in what was unsuspectingly their final match-up of 2019/20. Moreover, all three victories came at their Stade Gaston Gerard.
If Les Hiboux were relieved when the season was wrapped up prematurely, they were reeling almost as soon as it had begun in August, opening their accounts with two draws and five defeats. Last week, Angers ensured a second successive defeat on the opening weekend for Jobard’s men, deservedly winning 1-0 as the visiting side (xG: DIJ 0.74 – 1.6 ANG) in a contest Dijon carved out only one ‘big chance’.
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Lyon Vs Dijon Betting Advice
At the time when Ligue 1 was prematurely halted in March, no team had collected less points (6) or scored fewer goals (7) in away matches than Dijon, whose record away from home was extremely poor: W1 D3 L10 (D3 L7 in last ten). In nine of their fourteen away outings they would not even score, losing ‘to nil’ eight times. However, it wasn’t as though Lyon were a model for consistency in the league last season
Lyon Vs Dijon – Key Facts
- Just the five teams accrued less points from home games in last season’s Ligue 1 than Lyon (19 points from 13 home games: W5 D4 L4, GF17 GA7).
- Relegated Toulouse were the only side to have collected fewer away points in last season’s Ligue 1 than Dijon (6 points from 14 away games: W1 D3 L10, GF7 GA22).
- Only one of the pair’s previous nine Ligue 1 meetings failed to deliver Over 2.5 Goals – it was last season’s clash in Lyon, which ended goalless.
Last season’s corresponding fixture ended goalless at the Groupama Stadium, as Dijon frustrated Lyon in Rudi Garcia’s second match in charge. His team have improved considerably since then, and yet Lyon still managed two wins in seven league games prior to the season being cut short. They prefer it when teams come at them and attack, which Dijon are unlikely to do, so this could be a grind. Lyon 2-0.
Best Betting Odds – Lyon Vs Dijon
Lyon – 1/3 (Boylesports)
Draw – 19/4 (Bet365)
Dijon – 9/1 (BetVictor)
