Metz vs Lyon Prediction (23.02.2024)

French football is back this weekend with a full slate of fixtures across Ligue 1. There’s plenty to get excited about up and down the top flight and as we enter the last few weeks of February, it’ll be interesting to see who can start to build some momentum ahead of the next few months. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what should be a fun encounter between Metz and Lyon.

After just one season away from the spotlight, Metz are back in the big time - and they’re ready to ruffle a few feathers. They aren’t considered to be too much of a threat by the elite of the elite but for them, that probably won’t matter a whole lot. They have the talent necessary to spring an upset here and there, and you can bet they’re going to put up a much better fight this time around.

Metz went on the road to battle Montpellier last weekend in a game that was always going to be really important in the relegation battle. Unfortunately for their fans, Metz really didn’t put forward a good account of themselves in a humbling 3-0 defeat.

After years of being seen as one of the ‘big dogs’ of French football, that’s no longer the case for Lyon. Instead, there are far more questions than answers, and there’s no real allure surrounding them as a club. Right now, there’s a great deal of uncertainty, with their squad not really being up to scratch - especially within the context of the elite teams they are usually competing with.

Last Friday, we got a glimpse of the old Lyon when they played host to Nice in what was a really exciting and intriguing game. They took the lead through Mangala in the 22nd minute and held onto it, kicking on to secure a valuable 1-0 win to climb the table even further.

Metz are a decent team when they get going but it just feels like they’ve had the wind knocked out of them in recent weeks. They’re struggling to really get a foothold in games, and when you’re going up against an in-form side, that’s a problem. Therefore, we’re going to predict a Lyon win.