Lyon vs Metz Prediction & Betting Tips - French Cup

Prediction published on 05/01/2023, 14:10  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 05/01/2023 at 15:30 in French Cup Prediction

The Round of 64 of the Coupe de France will take centre stage this weekend and will see Lyon play hosts to Ligue 2 side Metz at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais on Saturday. The visitors have been battling hard to regain promotion to Ligue 1 and come into this match unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions, including a 1-0 win over fellow promotion contenders Grenoble in their last match. Despite their strong recent form, their defensive record on the road has been quite poor, shipping goals in 11 of their last 13 matches on the road. Despite being relegated, Metz has the better recent record in the head-to-head stats, unbeaten in their last three matches against this opponent in all competitions. The most recent encounter ended in a 3-2 win for Metz, which came in May 2022. 

Lyon has been average by their own expectations this season, and it seems certain that they will not be competing for the league title or Champions League qualification this season. They are in 8th place in Ligue 1 with just 24 points in 17 matches. Since the World Cup break, Lyon has been struggling to find any type of rhythm. They were unable to win their final two friendlies during the break and then followed up a 4-2 win over Brest with a 1-0 loss to Clermont Foot on New Year's Day in the league. Laurent Blanc's defence has been leaky in recent weeks and has only managed to keep a single clean sheet in their last 12 competitive games. However, they have good home form and, with just three losses in 13 matches and will be expecting to come out on top in this one.