Will Monaco or Lyon stay in title hunt as 3rd face 4th?

After wins for Lille and PSG yesterday to keep them 1st and 2nd respectively it's all eyes on to the Stade Louis II to see how Monaco and Lyon fair against each other. It's 3rd placed Monaco against 4th placed Lyon with boths sides needing to win to keep their title challenges going. If Lyon fail to win they are out of the race with three games to go. Les Gones must be kicking themselves after throwing away a 2 - 0 lead to lose 2 - 3 at home to Lille last week.

Had they won that they were right back in it. Les Lyonnais are guaranteed a 4th placed Europa League spot but know a win today puts them within a point of the third place Champions League qualifying spot. Even if the League is a belief too far then Champions League football is still in reach for Rudi Garcia's men. They need to win today though against a Monaco side in great form. Les Monegasques have won their last five league games and are in the Coupe De France semi finals having won at Lyon in the quarter finals. Coach Niko Kovač has his team scoring regularly and keeping regular clean sheets. Only PSG have scored more goals than them this season (79 to Monaco's 71) and have the 4th best defence in the league. A win for Monaco would put seven points between them and Lyon almost putting the latter out of the race for Champions League football. It also keeps them just a point away from 2nd placed Paris and two points from leaders Lille. Win today and the they are still very much in the title race with three games to go. Monaco will be without the in form Stevan Jovetic who is out with a calf injury. Injuries have blighted Jovetics time at Monaco and interrupted his good form. Monaco still have plenty of talent though, particularly the strike partnership of Wissam Ben Yedder (18 goals) and German Kevin Volland (15 goals).

Lyon have their share of quality players too with Depay (18 goals), Ekambi (12 goals) and Kadewere (10 goals) all capable of hurting defenses. There have also been good performances this season from French International right back Léo Dubois and Brazilian Midfielder Lucas Paquetá. Lyon could be without ex Monaco striker Islam Slimani who's carrying a thigh injury.

With both sides boasting quality attacking players there should be goals in this game and it should be fiercely contested given what's at stake. Recent form though is in Monaco's favour so I would expect them to edge this.

One to watch: Wissam Ben Yedder - Monaco. With six goals in his last six games and 18 league goals for the season the French International has been indispensable to Les Monégasques this season. He scored against Lyon in the reverse league fixture (a 4 - 1 loss) and the recent 0 - 2 Cup win. He could well add to his tally here.

Frenchfooty prediction: Monaco 2 - Lyon 1

Monaco V Lyon kicks off at 2000 Sunday 2nd May 2021 and is live on BT Sport 1.