Olympique Lyonnais will be looking to the in-form Memphis Depay for inspiration as they head to England to take on the mighty Manchester City in their opening UEFA Champions League clash of the season.
UEFA Champions League Group F, Matchday 1
City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester
Manchester City – Olympique Lyonnais 
>> Live scoring from 21:00 CET
After finishing with a wet sail last season to clinch a Champions League berth, Lyon have had a somewhat stuttering start to the 2018-19 Ligue 1 Conforama season, but Netherlands star Memphis Depay doesn’t believe they have any cause to be nervous as they get set to take on English giants Manchester City on Wednesday.
Depay: ‘Show our qualities’
“Nervous? We have no call to be nervous,” beamed the 24-year-old in the pre-match press conference. “We want to get results, we don’t want to just make up the numbers. We have a strong team and we’re still young. We should be excited at having a chance to play against one of the best teams in the world and show our qualities.”
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There is no doubt that Bruno Genesio’s squad is indeed full of quality. Depay bagged his first of the season with a superb free-kick on the opening day; World Cup winner Nabil Fekir did the same against SM Caen on Saturday, Bertrand Traoré has already struck twice; and new signing Moussa Dembélé – the squad’s only out-and-out striker – drew praise form the OL boss after his debut in Saturday.
But is this enough for OL to bring something back from Manchester? After being held by Caen, Genesio was “more than disappointed” at his side’s lack of “engagement, intensity and commitment” and is now tipped to go for a 4-3-3 formation – switching from the diamond-midfield 4-4-2 that drove their late-season success last time around.
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This should see World Cup winner Nabil Fekir – still not at his best following a busy summer and a move to Liverpool that collapsed at the last moment – on the right-hand side of attack and Depay – who has flourished in a central role – moving to the left to make way for the powerful Dembélé through the middle.
Aguero cloud
Meanwhile, City boss Pep Guardiola – who will be watching from the stands as he serves out a suspension incurred in last season’s quarter-final against Liverpool – has injury question marks over Sergio Aguero (ankle) and Benjamin Mendy (knee).
Leroy Sané, David Silva and Raheem Sterling, all of whom scored in City’s sweeping 3-0 win over Fulham at the weekend – their fourth victory in five matches – will feature alongside former Monaco starlet Bernardo Silva in Guardiola’s 4-1-4-1 set-up.
Probable teams
Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Kompany, Laporte, Delph; Fernandinho; Sterling, B. Silva, D. Silva, Sané; Aguero
Olympique Lyonnais: Lopes; Rafael, Marcelo, Denayer, F. Mendy; Ndombele, Tousart, Aouar; Fekir, Dembélé, Depay
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