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Coupe de France

Big guns set to fire in quarters showdowns

Big guns set to fire in quarters showdowns

Coupe de France
Publish on 02/12 at 11:00 - S. WILLIS

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Lyon face OM at Groupama Stadium and Dijon play host to PSG in a mouth-watering evening of Coupe de France quarter-final action on Wednesday…

Olympique Lyonnais - Olympique de Marseille

>> Kick-off at 21:05 CET

The Olympico is always one of the most hotly contested fixtures of the league season, and perhaps even more so in the Coupe… OM's trip to Lyon on Wednesday has everyone thinking of the classic 5-5 blockbuster in 2009, but OM boss André Villas-Boas will perhaps be more focused on the fact that his side have not won in Lyon for over 12 years.

But with OM unbeaten in 16 matches in all competitions and OL coming off a 4-2 loss in Paris that left them winless in three, OM's Spanish stopper Alvaro Gonzalez believes this is the time for Marseille to assert their dominance.

Gonzalez gets boasty

"There's only one Olympique and that's OM," he declared, despite the injury cloud hanging over captain Steve Mandanda, the suspension of defenders Duje Caleta-Car and Jordan Amavi and the absence of forwards Dario Benedetto and Nemanja Radonjic. "We'll give our all to show out there on the field that it's not just talk."

Meanwhile OL boss Rudi Garcia - who is up against his former club - could once again have to start Ivorian forward Maxwel Cornet at left-back.

"We'll see how Maxwel is. He wasn't ready to play against Paris [flu]," explained Garcia, who could also hand starts to Karl Toko Ekambi and young midfielder Maxence Caqueret. "Jean Lucas is suspended, like Marcelo, and [new signing] Bruno Guimaraes is not ready, obviously. We have a lot of absentees, but with the ones I have left, we're capable of going to the semi-finals, that's for sure."


Probable teams

Olympique Lyonnais: Lopes; Tete, Andersen, Denayer, Cornet; Caqueret, Tousart, Aouar; Be. Traoré, Dembélé, Toko Ekambi

Olympique de Marseille: Mandanda; Sarr, Gonzalez, Kamara, Sakai; Rongier, Strootman, Sanson; Lopez, Germain, Payet

Edinson Cavani and the PSG fans who adore him

Dijon FCO - Paris Saint-Germain

>> Kick-off at 18:30 CET

Although it may seem on paper that Paris Saint-Germain should dominate their tie away to Dijon - the capital club sit top of the league table with 61 points while Dijon hang precariously in 17th, a full 36 points adrift - the capital club will need to be wary at the Stade Gaston-Gérard on Tuesday.

Dijon are one of just three Ligue 1 Conforama sides to beat PSG this season, and they are the ones to have done so most recently, scoring a shock 2-1 win back in Week 12 thanks to a stunner from Venezuelan striker Jhonder Cadiz.

Tuchel: 'It will be tough'

What's more, Neymar - suffering from a rib injury - is unavailable, while Marquinhos and Marco Verratti will also both be missing. Although he still has plenty of firepower in every position, PSG boss Thomas Tuchel knows that his side cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

"I am expecting a very physical match with a lot of long balls and aerial challenges, a lot of duels," said the German tactician, who is tipped to hand a start to Edinson Cavani at centre-forward. "It will be tough, but we will do everything we can to win. We need to be ready for the fight for 120 minutes."


Probable teams

Dijon FCO: Runarsson; Chafik, Ecuele Manga, Lautoa, Muzinga; Marié, Ndong, Amalfitano; Benzia; Mavididi, M. Baldé

Paris Saint-Germain: Rico, Meunier, Kehrer, Thiago Silva, Bernat, Sarabia, Kouassi, Herrera, Di Maria, Mbappé, Cavani

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