Lille vs Brest Preview: Team News & Prediction
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We have two of last seasons top four meeting in the north of France at Stade Pierre-Mauroy with an unbeaten and difficult to defeat Lille welcoming an indifferent Stade Brest side still enjoying a European fairytale this weekend.
Kick-off date/time: Friday 6th December, 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
Lille Preview: Time to build
Former Olympique Lyonnais and Stade Rennais boss Bruno Genesio took charge of Lille over the summer, replacing Paulo Fonseca who departed the club for AC Milan. The northerners have performed very impressively as they once again begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting in the top four and the potential UEFA Champions League spots.
They come into this one on the back of a 2-2 draw against Montpellier Herault in which a Jonathan David brace of penalties was denied securing three points by a second-half stoppage-time equaliser from Arnaud Nordin. That draw means that Lille are now unbeaten in their last 13 matches across all competitions.
Brest Preview: Regression to the mean
Under the management of former Sunderland player Eric Roy, Stade Brest pulled off one of the stories of European football last season by finishing third and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League from Ligue 1 with one of the smallest budgets in France’s top-flight but they have regressed to the middle-of-the-table this time around.
They did lose to Barcelona about a week and a half ago but are in an excellent position to qualify for the knockout stages in the UEFA Champions League. Their domestic form, though, has been fairly average, albeit they did defeat Strasbourg by three goals to one at Stade Francis-Le Ble last weekend thanks to goals from Kenny Lala, Mathias Pereira Lage and Romain Del Castillo.
Lille Team News: Bakker suspension
In that draw with struggling Montpellier last weekend, former Atalanta wing-back Mitchel Bakker was sent off so he is now missing through suspension for Lille in this one.
As well as the absence of Bakker, they do still have some key injury concerns including defenders Samuel Umtiti and Tiago Santos as well as Angel Gomes.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Chevalier; Mandi, Diakite, Alexsandro, Ismaily; Andre, Bouaddi; Fernandez-Pardo, Mukau, Cabella; David
Unavailable: Umtiti (Injured), Santos (Injured), Bakker (Suspended), Bentaleb (Illness), Ang. Gomes (Injured), Mbappe (Injured)
Questionable:
Brest Team News: First-team issues
Eric Roy has been dealing with injury issues throughout this campaign and former Norwich City midfielder Pierre Lees-Melou has been blighted by persisted issues and is once again out.
As well as Lees-Melou, Brest remain without former Borussia Dortmund centre-back Soumaila Coulibaly as well as experienced midfielder Jonas Martin for this one.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Le Cardinal, Haidara; Camara, Fernandes; Balde, Faivre, Pereira Lage; Ajorque
Unavailable: Coulibaly (Injured), Lees-Melou (Injured), Martin (Injured)
Questionable:
Lille vs Brest Prediction
Lille will be a little frustrated with just how much they draw. That 2-2 draw with Montpellier last weekend means they have now drawn a third of their games across all competitions so far this season. Brest are a bit chaotic and unpredictable and have still got enough quality to concern teams, as they showed last weekend. However, the safest bet for this one would be to side with the home team.
Lille vs Brest Tip: Double chance – Lille to win or draw
