Olympique Lyonnais vs. Dijon 8/28/20 Ligue 1 Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Olympique Lyonnais is welcoming Dijon to Groupama Stadium in round 2 in French Ligue 1.

Lyon has ended the last season outside the Champions League and the Europa League, but they had a good run in the Champions League, that sadly ended just a week ago. In the semifinals of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, Lyon was forced to defend throughout the game, and Lyon has had only 34% of ball possession, 3 shots on goal, 4 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and 77% of the correct passes. Lyon has had a few good chances in the first half, but they weren’t able to score. Lyon has lost this match 0-3, and their Champions League has ended. There are no injuries or suspensions in Lyon as of right now. The biggest signing for Lyon so far has been Ekambi from Villarreal for 12.5 million Euros. Ekambi is a strong and fast striker that is certainly a good addition to the team. Terrier has left Lyon for Rennais, while Gouiri left for Nice, and Solet was sold to RB Salzburg. After the disappointing last season, Lyon’s run in the Champions League will certainly help them in the early stages of the season, and not playing in Europe this season, Lyon will focus only on the Ligue 1 and taking the PSG down.

Dijon has lost three straight games, including their opening match of the Ligue 1 last week. In that match, Dijon was playing against Angers at home, and they have had 53% of ball possession, 1 shot on goal, 3 corner kicks, and solid 89% of the correct passes. Dijon has conceded a goal in the 22nd minute, and they weren’t able to recover after that, and the final result was 0-1 for Angers. Dijon was outside the relegation zone last season, but they were lucky that the season was canceled and that the number of relegated teams was reduced to only two. Dijon was decent defensively last season, but their offense was weak and ineffective with only 27 scored goals in 28 games. The main goal for Dijon this season is to avoid relegation, but if their offense won’t be better than last season, this will be hard to accomplish for Dijon. The first game of the season was solid for Dijon, and there were some good things in their game against Angers, but the lack of offense was clearly visible. There are no injuries in Dijon as of right now. I think Dijon is good enough to stay out of the relegation zone, but it will be a hard season for them.

Lyon is the better team here, with more quality and more depth. The trends are on Lyon’s side, and their recent success in the Champions League will be a huge boost for this team. This is the first game of the Ligue 1 season for Lyon, and it’s at home. Taking everything into consideration, I think Lyon gets the job done at home.