Strasbourg welcome ninth-placed Lyon to the Stade de la Meinau on Sunday, and they enter the encounter in good form, having lost just once in their last 12 games in Ligue 1

The visitors are currently six points behind the top five and fourth-placed Strasbourg, meaning that there is a lot of pressure on Lyon to win this weekend to avoid losing more ground on their opponents.

Match preview

After a 15th-placed finish last season, Strasbourg have been one of the surprise packages in France this season, sitting just five points behind an automatic Champions League qualification spot.

A second-half penalty from Ludovic Ajorque was all Strasbourg needed to secure three points with a 1-0 win against Lens last time out, but it could have been by a bigger margin as Kevin Gameiro missed his chance to get on the scoresheet from 12 yards.

That result did mean that goalkeeper Matz Sels kept his third clean sheet in a row and the team's 12th of the season, which is the joint best total in Ligue 1 so far.

Julien Stephan's side have scored more goals than the rest of the teams currently below them in the table, having netted 51 times in 30 matches, which suggests that the hosts will look to attack the game on Sunday in front of their own supporters.

Lyon enter this match having travelled to London on Thursday evening, when they faced West Ham United in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.

Peter Bosz may have felt his side should have given themselves an advantage heading into their home leg next week, after Hammers defender Aaron Cresswell was sent off just before half time, but Tanguy Ndombele's strike just cancelled out Jarrod Bowen's opener.

Last time out in Ligue 1, Lyon had to battle off 14th-placed Angers, who pegged the hosts back on two occasions before Tete's 80th-minute winner secured a 3-2 victory for Lyon.

Success in the Europa League will mean that Lyon do not have to qualify for European football next year through their league position, but a late surge up the table would be welcomed by Bosz to take the pressure off themselves in the Europa League.

A repeat of the last meeting between these two teams will do nicely for the away side this weekend, after Lyon came out as 3-1 winners in the reverse fixture in September.

Team News

Adrien Thomasson, Ismael Doukoure, Maxime Le Marchand and Sanjin Prcic are all nearing their returns from injury, but Sunday's outing will have come too early for any of the injured quartet to feature for Strasbourg.

Anthony Caci performed well last time out, when he returned to the starting 11 in place of Lucas Perrin, and the former is likely to have earned the right to retain his place in the back three.

Dimitri Lienard and Frederic Guilbert will provide the width from their wing-back roles, and offer a strong attacking threat having directly contributed to eight goals between them this season.

Lyon's Lenny Pintor, Maxence Caqueret, Rayan Cherki and Sinaly Diomande are sure to be absent from the visitors' squad due to injury, with Cherki and Diomande expected to be sidelined for the rest of the campaign.

Bosz did not make any changes to his side in midweek from the team that defeated Angers last weekend, and he could remain with the same side as there are no new injury or suspension concerns.

Moussa Dembele will continue to lead the line and look to add to his 12 Ligue 1 goals this season, while Romain Faivre and Houssem Aouar support attacks from the right and left wing.

Strasbourg possible starting lineup:
Sels; Djiku, Nyamsi, Caci; Lienard, Bellegarde, Aholou, Sissoko, Guilbert; Gameiro, Ajorque

Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Emerson, Lukeba, Boateng, Gusto; Ndombele, Mendes; Aouar, Paqueta, Faivre; Dembele

We say: Strasbourg 2-1 Lyon

Strasbourg have had a longer rest ahead of this game, and that could be a decisive factor in the result on Sunday, with the game also being played on Strasbourg's home turf.

The hosts are in good form and while Lyon are certain to cause them problems with the quality at their disposal, Strasbourg are likely to come out on top given their extra rest and superior league position.

Previews by email