Lyon take on the visitors Lens in the round 34 match of French Ligue 1. The match will be played on Sunday, May 17th at Parc Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon).
Lyon appointed Paulo Fonseca in the middle of last season. Shortly after taking over, he received a lengthy suspension following an incident involving a referee, which prevented him from being present on the touchline during matches. Perhaps that played a role, because in an extremely tight race, his side eventually finished only 6th. That sent them into the Europa League, where after an excellent league phase, they surprisingly went out immediately in the knockout rounds against RC Celta de Vigo. Lyon’s home form has still remained one of their key strengths, especially when facing direct competitors in the upper half of the table. Even after setbacks, they have generally responded well, showing enough attacking intent to stay in the race. Slightly earlier, they were also eliminated from the cup, losing on penalties to RC Lens. But that at least eased the pressure on their Ligue 1 schedule. It helped them put together a couple of wins in April and climb into 3rd place. Among those was an impressive 4-2 victory over a strong Stade Rennais F.C. side. However, in the last round, they stumbled away at Toulouse FC, losing 1-2.
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Lens have squeezed the maximum out of this season. Les Sang et Or had already surprised people by finishing as runners-up after years of stagnation in the second division. But last season was modest — 52 points and only 8th place. That makes this current rise even more notable. Up until the middle of spring, they were going toe-to-toe with Paris Saint-Germain F.C., often even overtaking them and sitting top of the table. But gradually, they started dropping more points than the favourites. Draws against Stade Brestois 29 and OGC Nice reflected that shift. Lens have looked slightly less sharp in recent league matches, which is understandable given the broader context of their campaign priorities. Even so, their overall consistency across the season has been far more impressive than many expected at the start. After beating FC Nantes, they then lost to PSG in a rescheduled fixture. Part of that was because Pierre Sage’s team had shifted focus toward the “bird in the hand” — the domestic cup. By crushing Toulouse 4-1 in the semi-final, they booked a place in the final. So while playing this match, part of their minds may already be on the 22nd and the title clash with Nice.
Before that aforementioned cup meeting, the clubs exchanged away wins in Ligue 1 during 2025. The Blood and Gold clearly have more motivation here. Back them to finish the season with a victory.
Prediction for the match: Lens to win.
