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Olympique Lyon will be desperate for a win as they host Zenit in the Champions League group H, but the visitors will also be keen to record a positive result in order to get a foothold on the first place and virtually (probably mathematically as well) assure qualification.
Just 1 point for Lyon so far in this group and that was a very disappointing draw against a 9 men Gent side in the opening round. The french side went on to lose at home against Valencia, 0-1 and followed that with a 1-3 loss in Russia two weeks ago. On the bright side, Lyon is doing pretty good in Ligue 1, as they climbed to the second place thanks to two wins at nil in the last two rounds.
Zenit leads the group with 9 points, winning all their games so far and a draw would already send them trough to the next stage, as long as Gent does not defeat Valencia. The Russian are playing lights out recently, posting a 12 match undefeated streak in all competitions and finally raising to the challenge in Champions League as well. They are on the back of a 0-0 draw against Mordavia Saransk, but obviously their focus was on this game in France.
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Team news & lineups:
Grenier, Kalulu and Fekir will not be in Lyon’s lineup, while Malbranque and Bisevac could also miss out. Zenit won`t be able to count on Garay and Faizulin.
Olympique Lyon: Lopes – Jallet, Yanga-Mbiwa, Umtiti, Morel – Ferri, Gonalons, Tolisso – Valbuena – Beauvue, Lacazette
Zenit Sankt Petersburg: Kerzhakov – Smolnikov, Lombaerts, Neto, Criscito – Witsel, Garcia – Hulk, Danny, Shatov – Dzyuba
Both sides can bang in the goals, posting some pretty good offensive stats, but both can defend at a decent level as well – each club has currently kept two clean sheets in a row and will look for a third one in this match. Today goals might be hard to find. Zenit will obviously come here to play a good defensive match, eyeing a draw to book qualification to the next stage, while also keeping their foothold on the first place intact. Looking at how the first leg was played, I doubt Lyon has the strength to break down a Zenit team that will not be as offensive as usually.
The stats might not exactly suggest an underish result, but looking the circumstances and the importance of the match, the under looks a real probability as far as I`m concerned. Odds on the under / over market are great, so my tip is under 2,5 goals to be scored. Prediction: Olympique Lyon – Zenit Sankt Petersburg 0-0.
Pick: under 2,5 goals
Odds: 1.96 @ 1xBet
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 6.72
Event date: 4 November
