Lyon – Ajaccio

Lyon and Ajaccio open the new French championship. What to expect from the game?

The first round of the new French championship season will open with Lyon against Ajaccio. The Corsican team, who have returned to the elite division, should add spice to the fight in Ligue 1. Even though there have been no major changes to Ajaccio's squad. The team expects to fight to retain their place in the elite with the same squad that played in Ligue 2 last season. The move of Romain Amoum from Saint-Etienne, who fell to the second division at the end of last season, could be considered a notable strengthening. During pre-season, Ajaccio's play was unimpressive. The Corsicans drew with Lorient (1-1) in their last game, before losing to Paris (0-1) and beating Cholet (3-1). At the very beginning of July, there was a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Caen. In short, based on Ajaccio's pre-season form alone, as well as the transfer campaign, the Corsicans could be considered as future relegation contenders. What can save this team is their combative nature, thanks to which Ajaccio have always been unyielding and aggressive, even against strong opponents - they have a special attitude towards them. Therefore, Lyon will not find it easy. Lyon, in turn, have maintained their trademark style, characterized by a focus on attack and instability in defence. If only their recent friendlies are any indication of this. In the game with Inter, Lyon led 2-0 but conceded a 2-2 victory. Before that, they beat Feyenoord (2-0), and just before that they lost heavily to Willem II (0-5) and Anderlecht (0-3), who were defeated 3-2 on the same day. Lyon strengthened individual positions well during the summer. They signed Tagliafico on the edge of defence in place of Emerson from Ajax, brought back Lacazette from Arsenal in attack and Tolisso from Bayern in midfield. Given the styles and characteristics of Lyon and Ajaccio, we can expect an entertaining match.