By Tomi Rantanen
Midweek injuries ailing Lyon
Bordeaux will be hosting former champions Lyon on Sunday in a fixture that will mark the half-way of the season. Both of the clubs are very much in contest for the title or at least European competition seeds, but have looked tired with congested schedule. Midweek French Cup match proved costly for Lyon – not only did they lose to Monaco on penalties, but also lost key players to injuries.
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These key players, namely Steed Malbranque and Nabil Fekir, have been the creative force from the midfield and they will need to be replaced by much more mundane rotation players. With AccuScore simulation engine, we can see how these players affect Lyon’s performance against Bordeaux.
Here are the probabilities by AccuScore when the dynamic duo is included in the starting lineup:
| Teams |
Line |
Line% |
ACC% |
Goals |
| Bordeaux |
2.57 |
38.0 |
32.7 |
1.19 |
| Lyon |
3.06 |
31.9 |
39.4 |
1.31 |
| Draw |
3.24 |
30.1 |
27.9 |
|
As we can see Lyon is made a slight favorite in this scenario, with both teams quite evenly matched and the risk of a draw looming. But what happens if we remove Malbranque and Fekir from the equation?
| Teams |
Line |
Line% |
ACC% |
Goals |
| Bordeaux |
2.57 |
38.0 |
37.6 |
1.19 |
| Lyon |
3.06 |
31.9 |
31.4 |
1.06 |
| Draw |
3.24 |
30.1 |
30.9 |
|
Now the scales have tipped completely and Lyon is struggling to score goals, precisely because of the lack of chances created from the midfield. As tough as it is to admit, the bookers seem to be pretty much on target with this match and no selection bears real value.
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