This Sunday, November 9th, Paris Saint-Germain faces Olympique Lyonnais at Groupama Stadium (kick-off at 8:45 PM, CET) for Matchday 12 of the 2025-2026 Ligue 1 season. And as before every match, here’s a look at PSG’s opponent.
Lyon’s situation –
Lyon is emerging from a period of significant sporting and financial turmoil. Several coaches have come and gone, without fully convincing, until the arrival of Paulo Fonseca in January 2025. With almost a year in charge, this is a considerable length of time compared to his predecessors. A particularly significant factor is that he has been suspended in France since March and will remain so until November 30th, meaning he will not be on the bench due to an altercation with a referee.
Financially, Lyon narrowly avoided relegation last summer and had to fight to avoid administrative relegation. Naturally, the transfer window was largely focused on departures. There were still a few good deals, however, and Lyon had a successful start to the season: 6th in Ligue 1 and 7h in the Europa League.
Summer Transfer Window 2025 –
Source: Transfermarkt.
Departures:
Arrivals:
Key Statistics –
This season, Lyon boasts one of the 10 best attacks in Ligue 1 with 16 goals scored (the best, Olympique de Marseille, has 25, and the worst, Auxerre, has 7), and the 4th best defense with 12 goals conceded (PSG has the best defense with 9 goals conceded, the worst, Metz, has 26).
Lyon’s top scorer is Pavel Sulc (24-year-old attacking midfielder/forward), who, with 5 goals, is 5th in the league (Joaquin Panichelli is the top scorer in Ligue 1 with 9 goals). Ainsley Maitland-Niles (28-year-old right-back/midfielder) is Lyon’s top assist provider with 2 assists and is 34th in Ligue 1 (Adrien Thomasson is first with 5 assists).
Lyon’s last 5 matches – 1 match updated
Only Lyon’s possession is shown, and Lyon’s shots are listed first (when data is available).
October 23, 2025 (Europa League) – Lyon/Basel: 2-0. Playing a 4-3-3 formation. 60% possession. 17 shots, 6 on target, compared to 11 shots (4 on target).
October 26, 2025 (Ligue 1) – Lyon/Strasbourg (down to 10 men in the 67th minute, 1-1): 2-1. Playing a 4-2-3-1 formation. 59% possession. 4 shots, 2 on target, compared to 5 shots (2 on target).
October 29, 2025 (Ligue 1) – Paris FC (down to 10 men in the 67th minute, 1-3)/Lyon (down to 10 men in the 61st minute, 0-3): 3-3. Playing a 4-2-3-1 formation. 47% possession. 6 shots, 4 on target, compared to 8 shots (3 on target).
November 2, 2025 (Ligue 1) – Brest/Lyon (down to 10 men in the 8th minute, 0-0): 0-0. Playing a 4-2-3-1 formation. 48% possession. 3 shots, 1 on target, compared to 14 shots (3 on target).
Lyon squad:
Unavailable: Abner, Hateboer (suspension), Fofana, Mangala, Nuamah (injury).
The probable lineup in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Satriano
Moreira – Merah – Ghezzal
Tessmann – Morton
Tagliafico – Nikhate – Mata – Maitland-Niles
Greif
Lyon’s playing style.
Rather attacking, Olympique Lyonnais sometimes lacks options, especially since their strikers from last season (Alexandre Lacazette and Georges Mikautadze) have been left without being properly replaced due to financial difficulties. They have found some good solutions in their quality of play and a fairly solid defense. The question then arises whether OL will try to press PSG or if they will primarily play with a low block. In any case, Lyon should try to keep possession at times.
