A 2-1 win away from home at Nantes last time out in the French top flight resulted in Reims lifting themselves up into 12th place on the Ligue 1 ladder and also extended Reims’ unbeaten run to four matches overall prior to Friday night’s clash against Lyon at their Stade Auguste-Delaune II.
Points picked up in draws with Lens, Saint-Etienne and Montpellier were further boosted by that win at Nantes but although they hold supposed home advantage for this upcoming encounter against Lyon, Reims are expected to be facing a tough task
A stubborn run of just one defeat in their last eight matches have made Reims hard to beat but the hosts have managed just three wins during this period with earlier victories over Brest and Strasbourg and they face superior opposition on Friday night.
Stade Reims have also performed well of late on home turf at their Stade Auguste-Delaune II as they’ve put together an eight-match unbeaten sequence but their last meeting against Lyon ended in a heavy 3-0 loss.
The hosts have no fresh injuries to report.
Onto Lyon, and the visitors head into this Friday night clash away at Reims having suffered just one defeat out of their last eight matches which was a 2-1 loss at home to Montpellier but aside from that rare loss, Lyon have also picked up six wins during this period too.
Victories over Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux, Dijon, Strasbourg, Brest and Rennes have helped maintain Lyon’s claims for a possible Ligue 1 title as they still trail league leaders, Lille, by just a three-point margin and a win at Reims would see the visitors move level on points at the top of the French top flight.
Following a slow start to this campaign away from home which saw Lyon without a win from their opening three matches on their travels, the visitors have since clicked into gear as they’ve put together an impressive 12-match unbeaten sequence on the road which includes eight wins.
A muscle injury looks set to sideline forward Kadewere but strikers Depay (4 goals) and Toko Ekambi (12 goals) will be keen to add to their goal-tallies.
Lyon have kept five clean sheets away from home so far this season and they took the honours in their last meeting against Reims, so the visitors look set to find a way to win this Friday.
