Struggling Lille Seeks Second Win This Season at Stade Pierre Mauroy

Lille used to compete with the best French teams for the title, but the season started worse than expected and they are still struggling in the second half of the tables. A string of tough games against the top French outfits can only partially explain the mediocre performance. On Friday they have home pitch advantage and take on a team that until recently sat in the last place of Ligue 1. Lille needs to cast all precautions aside and go for all three points, in a push for Ligue 1’s upper half table.

One Game in Hand for Lille

The home side has just seven points in just as many games, but they’ve got one match in hand, facing Nantes on Tuesday. Back-to-back victories would allow them to leapfrog no fewer than seven teams and return to the spotlight once again. The schedule for October and November is pretty light, with the only tricky match being the home game against Marseille.

The home side will be missing four players ahead of this fixture, mainly midfielders and defenders, but their offensive is intact. Perhaps more important is that Boufal is fit to play and is guaranteed to feature in the starting formation, as the midfielder scored twice this season. These were in fact the only two goals scored by Lille so far and they need to take more chances upfront to improve this abysmal percentage.

Montpellier Breaks the Ice with Narrow Margin Win

After losing eight out of nine games and sinking in the Ligue 1 standings, Montpellier fought valiantly and defeated Lorient at home. The narrow margin victory was good enough to lift them from the last place, but once again they allowed a goal.

Their defensive is shaking to say the least and the odds of them conceding on the road are high, which explains why Lille is credited with the first chance by bookies. Bet365 Sports offers odds of 5/6 on the home side to prevail for only the second time this season, despite their chronic offensive problems.