Everton play their last chance to remain in the qualification race from UEFA Europa League Group E when they face Lyon at Parc Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday. Lyon have won the reverse fixture 2-1 at Goodison Park in October, leaving Everton with just one point after three group matches. That was the first ever meeting between the two sides. Everton have tasted victory just once in three matches against French teams in European competitions, while Lyon have defeated English teams just four times out of 17 occasions.
Lyon are currently on a seven-match unbeaten streak in all competitions and they have not conceded a goal in their last two games. Last weekend they beat Metz 2-0 at home after having secured a 5-0 victory at Troyes seven days earlier, and they are third in the Ligue 1 table after 11 matches. Lyon are currently second in Group E, two points behind leaders Atalanta and three points ahead of third-placed Apollon. Clement Grenier and Pape Cheikh are injured and will be out of contention for the home side, while Ferland Mendy is a doubt ahead of Thursday's game.
Things are not going well for Everton this season, manager Ronald Koeman got sacked as a result but caretaker boss David Unsworth was unable to steady the ship yet. Last week the Toffees lost 2-1 at Chelsea in the League Cup before being defeated 2-0 at Leicester in the Premier League. They have not won a match since September, that's seven matches without victory and they also avoided defeat on just two occasions during that disastrous patch. They need a win at Lyon to remain in the qualification race, but that seems quite unlikely at the moment. Ramiro Funes Mori, Yannick Bolasie, Seamus Coleman, Ross Barkley, James McCarthy and Michael Keane are injured.
Probable line-ups:
Lyon: Lopes - Rafael, Marcelo, Diakhaby, Marcal - Tousart, NDombele - Traore, Fekir, Depay - Mariano
Everton: Pickford - Holgate, Jagielka, Williams, Martina - Baningime, Schneiderlin - Vlasic, Sigurdsson, Mirallas - Calvert-Lewin
My prediction: Lyon to win 3-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Lyon win - 1.44
Draw - 4.33
Everton win - 7.00
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