Lyon into 4/1 to be relegated from Ligue 1
Olympique Lyonnais, or Lyon as they are more commonly known, are at real risk of a shock relegation to Ligue 2 this season.
They are a team who dominated Ligue 1 between 2001 and 2008 - winning seven straight titles - while more recently have finished runners-up to PSG in both 14/15 and 15/16.
Even more vivid in the memory was their 19/20 Champions League run, where they made it to the semi-finals, knocking out Juventus and Manchester City in the process.
They now sit rock-bottom of the French top flight, winless and already seven points from safety.
The bookies have reacted, and quickly.
Pre-season, Les Gones were priced at 20/1 to win Ligue 1, 5/4 to finish in the top four and 100/1 to be relegated.
They are now 2500/1 to finish as champions, 150/1 to finish in the top four and just 4/1 to go down.
With just 18 teams in Ligue 1 now, switching from 20 at the end of last season, the French top flight now operates the same way as the Bundesliga at the bottom end of the table, with two bottom teams suffering direct relegation and the third-bottom side playing a relegation play-off against a Ligue 2 team.
Ligue 1 bottom three finish (odds via Sky Bet)
- Metz - 1/3
- Clermont Foot - 5/6
- Le Havre - 6/4
- Lyon - 13/8
- Lorient - 15/8
- Strasbourg - 11/4
- 3/1 bar
Odds correct at 1030 GMT (01/11/23)
The 4/1 on a Lyon relegation takes that into account, while if you just wanted to back Lyon to finish in the bottom three, you are getting as short as 13/8, in from 100/1 at the start of the campaign.
There were no signs of this nose-dive coming either, as they finished last season seventh in the league under Laurent Blanc, winning seven of their last 10, including away at eventual champions PSG.
This season however, underlying performances have been poor as well as results. They rank 12th best in terms of xGF per game (1.22) but second worst for xGA per game (2.00), with only three teams having collected fewer expected points (xP) per game than Lyon.
That suggests that, while they may end up surviving, Les Gones will be embroiled in a fight for survival for most of the season, unless their underlying process takes a huge turn for the better.
Even more concerning is the fact that their poor results have mostly come against 'the rest'.
Of the bigger teams, Lyon have only played PSG and Nice (league leaders), meaning they are yet to face Monaco, Lille, Rennes, Lens and Marseille - with their game against OM postponed due to attacks on the team bus before the contest last week, which resulted in Lyon's new coach Fabio Grosso being struck in the head and hospitalised.
This weekend's game is arguably the biggest of the season so far, and maybe the biggest in the clubs history for quite some time. They host third-bottom Metz, the bookies favourites for relegation, so another defeat there would be a disastrous result.
It would send shockwaves across Europe, to see such a household name suffer relegation to their countries second tier, but it is a very real possibility.
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