Lille vs Le Havre Preview: Team News & Prediction

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Lille can take advantage of Nice and Lens facing each other in the race for a top four finish as bottom-of-the-table Le Havre travel to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in the north of France.

Kick-off date/time: Saturday 8th February, 2025: 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: Difficult to beat

Despite the departure of Paulo Fonseca to AC Milan last summer, Lille have arguably improved with the management of former Olympique Lyonnais and Stade Rennais boss Bruno Genesio as they sit tucked inside the top four and the UEFA Champions League spots in Ligue 1.

Lille come into this one on the back of a shock penalty shootout defeat to second-tier Dunkerque, though, in the Round of 16 of the Coupe de France in midweek. That means they have now actually lost three in their last five matches across all competitions.

Le Havre Preview: Struggling Le Havre

Le Havre lost manager Luka Elsner to Stade de Reims last summer and replaced him with former Middlesbrough midfielder Didier Digard in the dugout but he is now under intense pressure with the Normandy-based club sitting rock-bottom in Ligue 1.

The visitors most recently shared a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Angers last weekend at Stade Raymond Kopa in a game in which both sides were down to ten men as early as the 16th minute with Angers eventually equalising in the 90th minute.

Lille Team News: No Mandi

Defensive injuries are aplenty for Lille with Tiago Santos unavailable, whilst key man Ismaily is also a doubt. The hosts are also dealing with key absentees in attack as both Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Edon Zhegrova are sidelined for Lille.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Chevalier; Meunier, Diakite, Alexsandro, Gudmundsson; Mukau, And. Gomes; Cabella, Ang. Gomes, Haraldsson; David

Unavailable: Santos (Injured), Bentaleb (Illness), Fernandez-Pardo (Injured), Zhegrova (Injured)

Questionable: Umtiti (Injured), Ismaily (Injured)

Le Havre Team News: Sangante suspended

As mentioned, both Angers and Le Havre went down to ten men last weekend with defender Arouna Sangante being sent off for Le Havre and he is now missing through suspension for this one with a few key injury doubts, too, such as Abdoulaye Toure and Daler Kuzyayev.

Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Gorgelin; Nego, Pembele, Lloris, Toure; Kinkoue; Casimir, Diawara, Kechta, Joujou; Hassan

Unavailable: Sangante (Suspended), Mosengo (Injured), Logbo (Injured), Kitala (Injured)

Questionable: Toure (Injured), Kuzyayev (Injured)

Lille vs Le Havre Prediction

Lille had been on a 21-match unbeaten run of form across all competitions prior to their defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in the UEFA Champions League last month. They remain a very strong side but have since suffered a defeat to Strasbourg and that aforementioned cup upset. They now face a Le Havre side, though, that appear almost destined to return to Ligue 2 this season and a Lille victory is to be expected for this one, especially with their home advantage.

Lille vs Le Havre Tip: Lille to win