Houssem Aouar is expected to return to an ambitous and in-form Lyon side as the seven-time Ligue 1 Uber Eats champions attempt to stretch their unbeaten run into double figures at Metz on Sunday (kick-off 8pm GMT).
Aouar was absent as a result of club disciplinary measures when his teammates defeated Reims 3-0 last weekend to record their third successive top-flight win. It was their fifth victory in a nine-game unbeaten run that takes them into Round 13 in third place, just two points off leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
It marks a spectacular return to domestic form for OL, who missed out on European football this season for the first time in more than two decades following a rocky 2019/20 campaign, and Aouar believes his club has a duty to be bullish about their L1 ambitions.
"Being at Olympique Lyonnais, whether it's a brilliant PSG out in front or not, we have to aim as high as possible. We're one of the biggest European clubs, so we have the very biggest goals. This season, we're missing the Champions League, but that's giving us a few more days' recovery, a bit more strength for the weekend," explained Aouar, who has scored twice in eight top-flight appearances this season.
"We want to go as far as possible, try to win everything. The season is very tight, you can see it in the league table. It's going to be a Ligue 1 full of suspense. That gives us even more motivation."
WATCH: Lyon take Reims apart
Rudi Garcia's men are enjoying their best run of form since going 11 matches unbeaten in the second half of the 2017/18 season. That is also when they last won four successive games, a streak they want to match at the Stade Saint Symphorien where Metz, who are winless in their last three league game this season, last defeated OL in August 2014.
Lyon have had a tendency to struggle to raise their game against the division's less glamourous teams, and have already dropped points to Lorient and Nîmes this season, drawing with teams they would have expected to beat, but Aouar says the squad's mentality has now changed.
"Not everything is perfect, there are always things to learn and improve, but I think we've found a bit more consistency, especially in the matches that are a little less prestigious when we tended to drop points," the France international explained to RMC.
"I don't know what we were lacking, but we talk a lot to each other, we motivate each other a huge amount, there's a lot of intensity in training and so — each weekend — that has an effect. It'll be the most consistent team that's rewarded in the end."
While Aouar returns, Thiago Mendes is suspended after an accumlation of yellow cards while Garcia himself is also banned, and will have to watch the game from the stands as his side bid for an eighth consecutive win over Metz, a series in which they have scored 21 goals and conceded none.
Probable teams
Metz: Oukidja; Centonze, Bronn, Boye, Delaine; Maïga, Fofana, Angban; Boulaya, Nguette, Ambrose
Lyon: Lopes; Dubois, Marcelo, Denayer, Cornet; Paqueta, Guimaraes, Aouar; Kadewere, Depay, Toko Ekambi
