Le Havre vs Lille Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 French Ligue 1
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These two sides started the season very well but do both come into this weekend on the back of fairly underwhelming results so both will need a reaction this weekend as Le Havre face Lille at Stade Oceane this weekend.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 28th September, 2024 - UK – 6:00pm / US ET – 1:00pm / US PT – 10:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not televised / US – beIN Sports
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Ligue 1 pass / US – beIN Sports
LE HAVRE PREVIEW: BACK-TO-BACK DEFEATS
In their first season back in the top-flight in over 15 years last season, Le Havre managed to impressively but narrowly avoid relegation to Ligue 2 with Slovenian coach Luka Elsner departing for Stade de Reims in the summer to be replaced by former Middlesbrough midfielder Didier Digard.
Le Havre were arguably the better team in their opener against PSG before a late capitulation that saw them lose by four goals to one. They then managed back-to-back victories to underline that performance but come into this one on the back of back-to-back losses instead, losing to Toulouse by two goals to nil at the weekend.
LILLE PREVIEW: FADING FROM THE GOOD START
Under the management of Paulo Fonseca last season, Lille reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League as well as finishing fourth and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. He departed for AC Milan in the summer and was replaced by former Olympique Lyonnais and Stade Rennais boss Bruno Genesio.
The northerners did start the campaign by defeating Slavia Prague in the playoffs of the UEFA Champions League as well as back-to-back Ligue 1 wins but have since endured a four-match winless streak with their most recent outing being a 3-3 draw with Strasbourg at Stade Pierre-Mauroy at the weekend.
LE HAVRE TEAM NEWS: NO FRESH INJURIES
Le Havre have no fresh injury concerns or suspension issues for this weekend so can name an unchanged eleven for this weekend’s visit of Lille to Stade Oceane.
They do, though, still have a couple of injury issues and may want to change after back-to-back losses. Andy Logbo and Yoni Gomis are both sidelined for this one.
PREDICTED XI (3-5-1-1): Desmas; Sangante, Salmier, Lloris; Nego, Kuzyayev, Toure, Targhalline, Operi; Kechta; Casimir
UNAVAILABLE: Gomis (Injured), Logbo (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
LILLE TEAM NEWS: SEVERAL ABSENTEES
Lille have had a few injury issues throughout this season and they still have absentees for this weekend such as Ngal’ayel Mukau and Hakon Haraldsson.
Nabil Bentaleb suffered a cardiac arrest during the summer so he remains unavailable with his future obviously and naturally still up in the air, whilst Samuel Umtiti is once again injured.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Chevalier; Meunier, Diakite, Mandi, Gudmundsson; Andre, And. Gomes; Zhegroba, Ang. Gomes, Cabella; David
UNAVAILABLE: Umtiti (Injured), Mukau (Injured), Ismaily (Injured), Bentaleb (Illness), Haraldsson (Injured), Mbappe (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
LE HAVRE VS LILLE PREDICTION
The two teams would have come into this season with very different expectations as Le Havre would have simply viewed survival as a success this year but they have performed a little better than this year. Lille would want to establish themselves properly as a top four side again, even with the managerial change. They have both shown really good signs going forward so both teams scoring does seem quite a good bet.
LE HAVRE VS LILLE TIP: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
