Young Boys welcome Olympique Lyonnais to Stadion Wankdorf on Thursday afternoon, January 22, 2026, in a crucial Europa League league phase fixture. The Swiss side sits in the knockout play-off places with 10 points from six matches, while Lyon tops the table with an impressive 15 points. Paulo Fonseca's Lyon side enters as overwhelming favorites, riding a six-game winning streak across all competitions and boasting the joint-best attacking record in the competition with 13 goals in six matches.
Young Boys arrive in dismal form under Gerardo Seoane, losing their last three competitive matches and conceding 12 goals in that run. On Saturday they fell 3-1 at home to Lausanne-Sport, extending a downward spiral that included a 6-2 hammering by Grasshoppers on December 17 and a 3-0 defeat at Lugano on December 21. Languishing sixth in the Swiss Super League with just 29 points from 20 matches, the hosts face a selection crisis with defender Tanguy Zoukrou suspended and key players Jaouen Hadjam, Edimilson Fernandes, Ebrima Colley, and Facinet Conte all ruled out through injury. The defensive fragility has been glaring, and manager Seoane desperately needs a response from his depleted squad.
Lyon's transformation under Fonseca has been remarkable since his January 2025 appointment. On Sunday they defeated Brest 2-1 at home to climb to fourth in Ligue 1 with 33 points from 18 matches. That victory followed a 2-1 Coupe de France win at Lille on January 11 and a stunning 3-1 away triumph at Monaco on January 3. The French side has scored in every match during their current run, averaging 2.2 goals per game while conceding just 0.6. With loan signing Endrick from Real Madrid adding fresh attacking impetus and the team firing on all cylinders, Lyon looks primed to extend their European dominance.
This marks the first-ever meeting between these two clubs, offering no historical precedent. However, Lyon has won all three competitive matches against Swiss opposition in their history, while Young Boys recently snapped an eight-game winless run against French teams with their 1-0 victory over Lille on December 11. With Lyon needing just one more win to virtually guarantee direct qualification to the Round of 16 and Young Boys desperate to secure their play-off spot, the stakes are high for both sides despite the contrasting form and quality.
My model backs Lyon at 31/50 (1.62 decimal) for both teams to score with a 70.05% probability. The predicted scoreline is a 2-1 away victory for the French outfit, with expected goals of 1.54 for Young Boys and 2.12 for Lyon. Lyon has scored in all six Europa League matches this season, while Young Boys have found the net in five of their six, including against top sides like Aston Villa and Ludogorets. The xG gap of 0.58 reflects Lyon's superior quality, but Young Boys' home advantage and desperation for points should keep them competitive enough to break through a Lyon defense that has conceded in half of their European matches.