Manchester United vs Olympique Lyonnais
The Scotland Rugby headquarters at Murrayfield in Edinburgh will play host to the round balled game on Wednesday, when Club Friendly: Manchester United vs Olympique Lyonnais is the entertainment on offer.
While other European football clubs bask in sunnier climes, the Red Devils and Les Gones have opted for a rather chillier and rainier Scotland to prepare their squads for the coming campaign; which makes some sense for the Manchester club, but I’m not so sure about the Ligue 1 giants!
Lyon are managed by Laurent Blanc, who ended his playing career as a Manchester United centre back in 2003, when the Red Devils, under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson ruled the English league. The present day Premier League 2023 betting odds say it’s the Sky Blue side of Manchester in charge now, but head coach Erik Ten Hag has started to introduce a state of order at the club which has been through several stages of chaos.
Talking Points
Second outing for Mount
Ten Hag will have the opportunity to see £65m signing Mason Mount in action again, after the former Chelsea midfielder made his debut in the Red Devils’ 2-0 win over fierce rivals Leeds United. Mount featured in that opener in Oslo and is likely to play a part again in Scotland, as well as some of United’s established stars and some younger prospects. He played in a deeper role than he was used to and Mount said he enjoyed the challenge: “I really liked that role,” he said. “Being able to drop in and get the ball and start to play from a bit deeper, but also having that freedom to be able to get forward and into the box.”
Academy stars Noam Emeran and Joe Hugill scored the goals against the Whites while the experienced centre back pairing of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez were reunited after they missed much of the run in last season through injury. They are sure to be the Red Devil’s first choice partnership at the back, while Ten Hag still has work to do on his forward unit, with Marcus Rashford the best current option.
Lyon’s young forwards in demand
Much of the current Ligue 1 2023 news in Lyon concerns the future of OL’s young stars as some of Europe’s top clubs are circling. Chelsea (who else?) are preparing a bid for 19 year old attacker Rayan Cherki as they look for a replacement for the departed Christian Pulisic. OL are keen to keep their young star and have slapped a £50m price tag on the attacking midfielder’s head, but whether that will be enough to deter the big spending Blues is yet to be seen. He scored four goals and made six assists for OL last season, but Cherki’s opportunities were limited by the competition from a seasoned goal scorer.
Former Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette was in scintillating form for Les Gones in his first season back at the club, scoring 25 goals in 35 league games, though he missed a penalty in a 2-1 loss away to Clermont Foot as Lyon narrowly missed out on a European place, finishing seventh in Ligue 1. Lacazette struck up a fruitful partnership with another in-demand youngster in the second half of the campaign as striker Bradley Barcola scored five goals and made nine assists. The 20 year old is a key player in France U21s and has been picked out as a priority target for Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain who are looking for a long term replacement for Kylian Mbappe should he leave the Parc des Princes this summer. The two clubs have been in discussion for a few weeks now and, if the price is right, OL may have to sell.
Cameroon striker Karl Toko Ekambi has returned from his loan at Rennes and he will provide more competition in the front line which may look a little different by August.
History
Lyon are seven times Ligue 1 winners and twice Champions League semi-finalists (most recently in 2020) while the Red Devils have won the English top flight on a record 20 occasions and the European crown three times.
The two teams have met four times in the Champions League and OL are yet to win, with two defeats and two draws.
Prediction
Ten Hag will have plenty of chances to assess his squad during the club’s upcoming tour of the USA and, here at SBOTOP, we’ll be keeping up with all the latest top flight news. Meanwhile, former Red Devil Blanc has work to do to fine tune his squad as he waits to see whether offers come in for his young stars.I predict rain at Murrayfield and another pre-season success for Mount and United.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
