Montpellier HSC will endeavour to build on their weekend victory over Nice when they lock horns with Lyon at the Stade de la Mosson on Tuesday evening.

In contrast, Lyon were unable to break down the resolute defence of Bordeaux and played out a goalless stalemate with Les Girondins in their second game of the 2020-21 Ligue 1 campaign.

Match preview

Montpellier boss Michel Der Zakarian pictured in March 2019 © Reuters

Having suffered an opening-day defeat to Rennes, the Montpellier faithful would not have felt all that optimistic about their side's chances when they faced a Nice side looking to secure their third victory in succession.

However, Michel Der Zakarian's men swept aside their opponents with ease as they marched to a 3-1 victory, with defender Daniel Congre netting twice after Gaetan Laborde had opened the scoring for Montpellier.

A convincing victory is just what the hosts needed as they prepare to welcome last season's Champions League semi-finalists to the Stade de la Mosson, where they have only tasted defeat twice in their last 15 outings.

Montpellier have fixtures against Angers, Dijon and Nimes to look forward to following their clash with Lyon - a trio of games that Der Zakarian's men will be expected to take maximum points from - and Montpellier will certainly be eyeing a top-six finish if they can keep the momentum going from their win over Nice.

Lyon manager Rudi Garcia pictured on November 5, 2019 © Reuters

In contrast, Lyon's formidable attacking stars failed to break down the staunch rearguard action of Bordeaux, who kept their third clean sheet in a row after a dogged performance on Friday evening.

Rudi Garcia's men had stormed to a 4-1 victory against Dijon in their first game back, with Barcelona-linked Memphis Depay netting a hat-trick for Lyon in that game, but Les Gones were silenced by Bordeaux and forced to settle for a point in their second outing of the season.

One positive that Lyon can take from that goalless stalemate was the return of Houssem Aouar, who continues to be linked with a move to Arsenal, and the 22-year-old was unlucky not to win the game for Les Gones as he hit the post in the dying embers.

Garcia will surely see this result as nothing more than a temporary blip as Lyon aspire to break back into the top four, and last season's Champions League semi-finalists can focus purely on their domestic exploits with no European football to contend with this season.

Montpellier and Lyon only met once last season, and it was Der Zakarian's men who took the spoils with a 1-0 victory, which was their first league win over Les Gones since 2015.

Montpellier HSC Ligue 1 form: LW

Lyon Ligue 1 form: WD

Team News

Lyon's Houssem Aouar pictured in August 2020 © Reuters

Montpellier will welcome Florent Mollet back to the side after the midfielder served a one-game suspension following his red card against Rennes.

Der Zakarian could look to make a couple of changes to his team amid a quick turnaround in fixtures, but the Montpellier manager will want to avoid disrupting the harmony too much after their impressive weekend victory.

Joris Chotard is an option for change in midfield having come off the bench against Nice, while Ambroise Oyongo could also come in on the left-hand side.

As far as Lyon are concerned, Aouar will be expected to start this one, meaning that Garcia could switch to a back four in order to accommodate the returning Frenchman.

Joachim Andersen lined up alongside Marcelo and Jason Denayer in the Lyon defence following Marcal's exit, but the 24-year-old could be sacrificed here.

Teenage protege Rayan Cherki came on for the final few minutes of Friday's draw, and the 17-year-old will be hopeful of getting some more minutes on the board here.

Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:
Omlin; Mendes, Congre, Hilton; Souquet, Chotard, Ferri, Oyongo; Savernier; Laborde, Delort

Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Dubois, Denayer, Marcelo, Bard; Aouar, Caqueret, Guimaraes; Cherki, Dembele, Depay

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We say: Montpellier HSC 1-3 Lyon

Montpellier should head into the midweek showdown brimming with confidence after overcoming Nice in impressive fashion last time out, but the hosts are sure to feel the full force of a Lyon side desperate to find their shooting boots and get back to winning ways, so we expect Les Gones to walk away with all three points in Tuesday's encounter.

Top betting tip

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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Montpellier HSC win with a probability of 42.18%. A win for Lyon had a probability of 33.04% and a draw had a probability of 24.8%.

The most likely scoreline for a Montpellier HSC win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.93%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.72%) and 2-0 (6.7%). The likeliest Lyon win was 1-2 (7.74%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.61%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-1 win for Montpellier HSC in this match.