Match Thread Everton vs Lyon 19 October, 20:05

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

Four games. The only game to not end in a draw was Atalanta's bumming of us.

I was never actually good at maths at school as well.

 

[Armaghtoffee]

He said himself we need a win and that isn’t going to happen with 2 defensive kids. Schneiderlin has been shocking and he’s due the bench.

I really hope Sandro takes his chance in these Euro games, the lad needs a bit of confidence in himself.

Time for Lookman to get a go, drop Rooney and Sigurdsson in behind DCL.

Tres Facile this Manager lark!

 

[evertony]

We'll win, and win Sunday as well.

 

[bicycleheader]

Pickford
Kenny Holgate Keane Baines
Davies Gana
Lookman Siggurdson Vlasic
Niasse/DCL

Bench: Not Cuco, Not Rooney, Not Williams, Goalkeeper and other lids

Probably be crap like, but I'd be happy with all the players until we are 2 nil down after 10mins

 

[blue to the bone]

Have a go Ronnie. We have to win it to realistically have a chance of goin through. So go for it otherwise it increases your chances of been sacked. Unless that's what you want!

 

[Johnniepk]

Great. They are all in the Hilton bar and its almost midnight.

 

[john jako]

Got a mate who's a Lyon fan, he is actual French. I say a mate, he's someone I know from online gaming. Which is well weird. Anyway.....

He tells me this guy called Diaz isn't playing and supposedly he's the dogs cojones. Also said they all hate there manager as he's gash. There very own koeman.

Up the blues. 1-0 Lyon.

 

[john jako]

Got a mate who's a Lyon fan, he is actual French. I say a mate, he's someone I know from online gaming. Which is well weird. Anyway.....

He tells me this guy called Diaz isn't playing and supposedly he's the dogs cojones. Also said they all hate there manager as he's gash. There very own koeman.

Up the blues. 1-0 Lyon.

Just checked that Diaz AKA Mariano scored 7 in 9. There is hope for Williams.

 

[chicoazul]

Everton have another more than welcome stop gap in Premier League action after scrambling a disappointing last gasp draw in Brighton.

Unfortunately for the Blues, the break is to accommodate the UEFA Europa League, where their form has been equally grim.

Deep wounds from that 3-0 defeat to Italian side Atalanta in game one of the tournament have yet to heal for Ronald Koeman’s side.

And a late equaliser at Goodison for Cypriot minnows Apollon Limassol last time out only made things worse.

So, with exit staring Everton in the face, the meeting with French side Lyon has turned into a must-win game if the Blues have any hope of qualifying for the next round.

Lyon are the hosts of this season’s final, so they will be hoping to make the cut and have home advantage on their side come May 16.

But with only the two points from two fixtures for OL, the group is wide open. A massive bonus for the so far struggling Blues.

Lyon are currently sitting sixth place in Ligue 1, picking up 16 points from nine games. But they will be disappointed to not be bettering or at least matching their fourth-place finish last term.

Their most recent set of points came against Champions Monaco, a dramatic 3-2 victory that involved a 95th minute winner from Nabil Fekir.

The win on Friday evening will work wonders for Lyon in terms of confidence going into the L4 bout, a first victory for Les Gones in over a month in any competition.

Plus, the two extra recovery days over their Merseyside opponents will go a long way, too.

Ones to watch –

Dominican Republic international Mariano has found his feet after leaving footballing giants Real Madrid for France this summer.

The Spanish born striker boasts an impressive seven goals in nine league outings for Lyon and with the way Everton’s defence has played this campaign, he will fancy himself to better an already top-notch scoring record.

Influential captain and France attacking midfielder Fekir is in the goal scoring form of his career, already halfway towards matching last year’s total of 14 goals, having played 38 fewer games.

And after the two he bagged against Monaco he will fancy himself against a lame Blues backline.

But enough about that lot.

Everyone came through unscathed against a less than inspiring 1-1 draw at the Amex.

So, Ronald Koeman has the same options (minus Oumar Niasse, of course) at his disposal as he did at the weekend.

Here's hoping the Dutchman uses what he has got in a correct manner. We can all dream, can’t we?

Thursday marks the beginning of a tough set of fixtures, and if the Blues stand a chance of picking anything up from them, then momentum is key.

And there is no better time than the present to start building just that.

Up the Toffees.

Great informative preview as always Tom. Well in.

 

[Jr. Yanik]

Lyon is both T3 for most goals scored AND goal conceded in Ligue 1 right now... losing Lacazette wasn't easy on them, but they're still doing OK. This won't be an easy game, but at the very least I want to see a positive line up. Too much negativity in the team recently...

 

[Alatar]

I don't think you should play with one upfront, you don't have anyone good enough to be effective for that role, at least not for European or Premier League matches.

I suggest not to drop either Rooney or Sigurdsson, who is going to create your chances without them? You need them both to start the match, and maybe drop one of them later on for Davies if they really struggle.

It's a home game, so I would go with two in central midfield, and attack through the wing. Put both Rooney and DCL upfront, Rooney will drop deeper anywhere you put him anyway, DCL to stay up top at all times.

Pickford
Holgate-Keane-Jagielka-Baines
Vlasic-Gana-Sigurdsson-Mirallas
DCL-Rooney

Davies to come on if a change of balance is necessary.

I wish for a good win for you guys.

 

[QLDBlue]

I just want them to go for the jugular from that start and play for some pride!!! The rest will take care of itself as they have the ability as a team!

 

[EFC78]

Pickford
Kenny Holgate Keane Baines
Davies Gana
Lookman Siggurdson Vlasic
Niasse/DCL

Bench: Not Cuco, Not Rooney, Not Williams, Goalkeeper and other lids

Probably be crap like, but I'd be happy with all the players until we are 2 nil down after 10mins

I like that lineup but Niasse can't play in the EL can he?

Your side is too youthful and inexperienced though. We need the senior players to get us out of this mess we're in!!! lol

 

[Fansince1988]

This is really a crunch game IMO for Koeman, as much as I want him gone I want us to progress in this compition. There's no doubt if he gets the tactics right our group of players can beat these. The problem is I can't remember the last time Koeman got the tactics right, we need a win so I hope he doesn't go for Gueye and Snides together again, isn't he watching that combination doesn't seem to work but he keeps persisting with it. Plan B mr Koeman please, I just hope you've got one as we haven't seen one yet.

 

[Groucho]

This is really a crunch game IMO for Koeman, as much as I want him gone I want us to progress in this compition. There's no doubt if he gets the tactics right our group of players can beat these. The problem is I can't remember the last time Koeman got the tactics right, we need a win so I hope he doesn't go for Gueye and Snides together again, isn't he watching that combination doesn't seem to work but he keeps persisting with it. Plan B mr Koeman please, I just hope you've got one as we haven't seen one yet.

He must know that those two together doesn’t work.

They’re both good players, but their form is suffering due to his insistence of playing both.