admin
Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
TINO KADEWERE and Marshall Munetsi are set to plunge into battle when the French Ligue One gets underway this weekend.
Olympique Lyon striker, Kadewere, is entering his second season in the French top-flight league while Munetsi is bracing for a third successive campaign, with Stade de Reims.
Lyon will open their campaign with a home game against Brest on Saturday.
Reims are action, the following day, away to Nice.
However, Kadewere could be doubtful, when Lyon host Brest on Saturday afternoon, as he has been out of action, for the last three months.
He has been recovering from thigh surgery, which ruled him out of the last two rounds, of the previous campaign.
The 25-year-old was part of the training squad, which toured Spain, for pre-season.
However, the Zimbabwean rarely saw action in the practice games as Lyon’s new manager, Peter Bosz, took stock of his side with warm-up games against Villefranche, Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, Villarreal of Spain and the Portuguese top-flight sides, Sporting and Porto.
Kadewere only returned in the final pre-season friendly against Porto last weekend as a 63rd minute substitute.
He missed four pre-season friendly matches played by his club, in the last month.
He is expected to play a big part in Lyon’s campaign this year following the departure of their main striker, Memphis Depay.
The Zimbabwean striker introduced himself in the Ligue 1 in a big way, after scoring seven goals between October and December.
Many had not given him a chance, considering it was his first time playing at the highest level in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
However, he was plagued by injuries, which affected his form, and he finished the season on 10 goals.
The former Harare City star weighed in with three assists in 33 matches for Lyon.
He had forged a fine partnership with Depay and Cameroonian forward, Karl Toko-Ekambi.
The trio contributed 44 of Lyon’s 81 goals last season.
Depay was top scorer for Lyon, last season, netting 21 times in Ligue 1.
Toko-Ekambi was second, with 14 goals, and Kadewere was third, with 10 goals.
The Zimbabwean has often attributed his success to Depay, who finished second in the Ligue 1 Golden Boot race, behind Kylian Mbappe.
But, with Depay having left, Bosz will be looking at the other options, like Islam Slimani and Frenchman Moussa Dembele, who recently returned from a failed loan spell, at Atletico Madrid, in Spain.
Bosz told the media in France, this week, he was reminded by club president, Jean-Michel Aulas, not to break from the tradition.
“The president asked me to have an offensive and attractive game. We are working on that and the players have to follow and learn.
“They are trying and already I see that we are progressing on the physical level, because if we play offensively, we have to work athletically, in a different way, with small sprints and a lot of intensity,” said the Dutch technician.
Munetsi’s Stade de Reims will open their season, when they travel to Nice, on Sunday.
The midfielder made 27 Ligue 1 appearances last season, compared to 17, in his debut campaign.
Barring injuries, the midfielder, who was also deployed in defence, is set to play an integral part in the new campaign, after he featured in all the pre-season games.
Reims played four warm-up matches against Valenciennes, Chambly, Lens and Germany side Hoffenheim.
They will be looking to improve, from last season, when they had to fight for survival, until the last game.
Saturday
Lyon vs Brest — 5 pm
Sunday
Nice vs Reims — 3 pm
Online Reporter