La Suze host Lyon in this cup fixture due to be held at MMArena, a stadium in which Le Mans play their home games. It remains to be seen whether Lyon will display a strong line-up for this confrontation but it does not seem like an upset will be on the cards.
When the draw for this stage of the competition was made, La Suze president Joel Bruneau seemed overjoyed at the opportunity to host well-known opposition. Despite this, his side have not had much to smile about of late. The Coupe de France has so far provided light relief for them, though they have yet to be tested by big-league opposition. The club currently play in the regional amateur divisions and will view this match as an opportunity to maximise profits with casual fans undoubtedly willing to attend the match, 15 kilometres away from La Suze-sur-Sarthe itself, in order to see their Ligue 1 opponents.
Lyon have suffered from inconsistent form this season. A league position of 10th has not been enough to ease the concerns of the fans regarding the current structure of the club, and a comical summer transfer window heightened worries about personnel, with uncertainty surrounding the future of a number of players at the club. Striker Bafétimbi Gomis, who has been reliable in providing goals for the club for a number of seasons, could be on his way out of Lyon while the club failed to transfer Jimmy Briand in summer. As well as this, Yoann Gourcuff recently stated his grievances that the club have “lost faith” in him and hinting that being on the bench could harm his chances of making it to Brazil with the France squad. He could, however, feature in this match.
The away side can take nothing for granted in this confrontation, though the favourites tag seems firmly pinned to their backs. The cup competitions could provide some relief for Lyon should they continue their inconsistency in Ligue 1. The hunt for European football next season via Ligue 1 seems a long way off should these erratic results continue.