Having both played out 1-1 draws before the most recent international break, Lille and Brest seek a return to victorious ways in Ligue 1 at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Sunday.

Paulo Fonseca's team came from behind to hold Lens to a two-goal stalemate a fortnight ago, while their visitors left it late to deny Toulouse all three points.

Match preview

While Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier was proving impenetrable at one end of the field, Lens number one Brice Samba had clearly not taken a leaf out of his counterpart's book, as he came out to meet an Edon Zhegrova delivery but only succeeded in giving Benjamin Andre an empty net to head into.

The Dogues captain's effort came on the stroke of half time at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, but Lens finally wore their visitors down in the 70th minute, when the newly-introduced Deiver Machado met Przemyslaw Frankowski's cross and directed a slick diving header into the far corner.

Keeping up their inconsistent theme since the season began, Lille - who also failed to overcome KI Klaksvik in a 0-0 Europa Conference League draw on October 5 - are playing catch-up to the rest of the European chasers in seventh spot in the table, albeit only behind Marseille on goals scored.

Even with Canada hotshot Jonathan David only managing a pair of strikes in his opening eight Ligue 1 affairs this term, Lille have managed to score in each of their top-flight fixtures in the 2023-24 term and have only been shut out in one of their last 26 Ligue 1 home contests.

However, Les Dogues' 18-game unbeaten run and seven-game winning streak at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy was broken when Reims ran out 2-1 winners on September 26, and if their early-season exploits are anything to go by, Brest are more than capable of prolonging Lille's misery.

Pirates right-back Kenny Lala would have breathed the biggest sigh of relief at the end of his side's clash with Toulouse two weeks ago, where he was robbed of the ball inside his own penalty area by Cristian Casseres, who proceeded to set up Frank Magri for a simple tap-in.

Two second-half substitutes ended up combining in unorthodox fashion to steal a point for Eric Roy's outfit, though, as Guillaume Restes spilled Hugo Magnetti's long-range attempt into the path of Martin Satriano, who clinically tucked away the rebound to spark scenes of elation at the Stade Francis Le-Ble.

Stretching their unbeaten sequence to five matches prior to the second hiatus of the season, the early-season surprise package remain in the Champions League mix in fourth place, only two points worse off than leaders Monaco and behind Paris Saint-Germain on goal difference alone.

Conceding a mere two goals across their last five matches is a welcome statistic for the Pirates faithful ahead of their trek to Lille's fortress, and only three of Brest's last 19 matches in the top flight of French football have ended in defeat, while their post-COVID results versus Les Dogues make for pleasant reading.

Indeed, Brest have suffered just one defeat in their last six games versus Lille, but it was a 2-1 beating at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in February, and they have gone 34 years without a victory on Les Dogues' turf since prevailing by the same scoreline in 1989.

Team News

Owing to an accumulation of yellow cards, Lille midfielder Angel Gomes will sit out Sunday's contest as he serves a one-game suspension, while Tiago Djalo is still on the long road to recovery from his ACL injury; Nabil Bentaleb ought to come in for the former.

Kosovo winger Edon Zhegrova and Angola attacker Ivan Cavaleiro have emerged as doubts too, as the pair - who both started the draw with Lens - were unable to fulfil their national team commitments over the October period due to muscular and toe issues respectively.

As a result, Hakon Arnar Haraldsson and Yusuf Yazici should be primed to deputise in support of Remy Cabella and David, the latter of whom is now without a goal in five straight Ligue 1 matches.

Similarly, Brest have also lost a key lynchpin to a yellow card-related ban in Mahdi Camara, while defensive regular Lilian Brassier will also sit on the naughty step for the same reason.

Achraf Dari appears to be the most likely candidate to step in for the suspended Brassier, while Camara's absence is likely to lead to an engine room recall for Magnetti following his vital contribution as a substitute against Toulouse.

Satriano's equaliser right at the death should also open the door for the Uruguayan to displace Steve Mounie at the tip of the attack, and Roy is blessed with an injury-free squad for the lengthy trip east.

Lille possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Diakite, Yoro, Alexsandro, Ismaily; Andre, Bentaleb; Yazici, Cabella, Haraldsson; David

Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Dari, Locko; Lees-Melou, Magnetti, Martin; Del Castillo, Satriano, Le Douaron

We say: Lille 1-0 Brest

Barring their surprise defeat at the hands of Reims a few weeks back, Lille are almost always the favourites when they step out onto familiar territory, but injuries and suspensions will threaten their chances of a swift return to winning ways.

Brest's defensive nous is well-documented too, but Les Pirates have disciplinary concerns of their own to work around and have experienced little joy on Lille's turf down the years, so we still expect Fonseca's crop to come up trumps, albeit by a narrow margin.


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