Lyon will be looking to upset the odds when they take on Montpellier on Friday the 25th of May.
Lyon managed to keep the fairytale alive with a dramatic victory over Toulon last weekend. The result has set up a date with regular season table-toppers, Montpellier. The hosts head into this one as strong favourites with the ‘books but will have to be on their game if they are to see off this extremely plucky Lyon outfit.
Montpellier v Lyon
Friday 25 May
Groupama Stadium
20:45
To Win (80 Mins)
Montpellier 2/7
Draw 20/1
Lyon 26/10
Montpellier
Vern Cotter’s first season at the helm of Montpellier has gone rather well. Yes, his side could bomb out of the Europen Rugby Champions Cup at the pool stage but he has managed to guide his side to the first spot on the Top 14 standings and, with it, a semi-final.
While finishing top of the log generally guarantees you a home semi-final, it’s a bit different in France with the semi-final venues being drawn at the start of the season. This quirk is a massive hindrance to Montpellier who now have to travel to Lyon due to the Groupama Stadium being named as the venue for both semi-finals.
Despite having to travel to Lyon, Montpellier still come into this one as 2/7 favourites at the time of writing. This could actually be a rather tough game for Cotter and his boys – considering they lost 32-24 to Lyon during the final set of round-robin fixtures.
Lyon
The Wolves managed to keep the fairytale alive last week as they secured passage through to the semi-finals after holding big spenders Toulon to an extra-time draw. The two sides could not be separated after 100-minutes but Lyon managed to advance to the next round by virtue of having scored more tries than Toulon during the fixture.
The victory did come at a cost however with Frederic Michalak and Lionel Beauxis both picking up injuries. If the international duo is unable to recover then Lyon will be extremely light on half-backs come Friday evening.
Lyon did beat Montpellier during the round-robin phase of the season but they were also beaten 38-17 by Vern Cotter’s men in the reverse fixture.
Verdict: Montpellier 2/7
I think Lyon will run them extremely close until the 60th-minute and then the fatigue will kick in and Montpellier will be able to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Written by Darry Worthington for @Hollywoodbets.net
