Lorient, the surprise package of the French first division so far, host Lille at Stade du Moustoir on Sunday.

Regis Le Bris's side currently sit third in the table, with six wins from their opening eight games, while their opponents are eighth, six points behind Lorient, with three wins and a total of 13 points so far this season.

Match preview

After a 5-2 defeat to fellow surprise package team Lens at the end of August, Lorient have gone on a run of four consecutive wins, which included an impressive 3-1 victory against Lyon.

Seventeen goals have been scored by Les Merlus so far in just eight league games, which is the third-best scoring record in the league, and Nigerian forward Terem Moffi has scored six of those to leave himself just two short of his tally for the whole league campaign last season.

Another star of the Lorient forward line is Dango Ouattara, who has contributed four goals and four assists so far in his second season at the club - already a vast improvement on the one goal and two assists he managed in 25 outings last term.

A perfect home record is something that they will be looking to continue going into this fixture, being one of only four sides in the division who have won all their home fixtures.

The settled backline, which has played every minute of every league game this season, also seem to be more comfortable at home, conceding four goals in front of their own fans compared to eight away, although they have played two more games on their travels.

Lille have had a fairly inconsistent start to the season and, like their opponents Lorient, they also suffered a heavy defeat towards the end of August, theirs being a 7-1 humiliation at the hands of PSG.

Since that result, they have won three times and lost twice, with their most recent victory coming against Toulouse before the international break.

Games featuring Les Dogues this season have certainly been full of goals, with 16 goals being scored by them and also 16 goals being conceded by them in eight games.

The goalscoring is mainly down to Jonathan David, who has registered five league goals and two assists for Lille so far this season and continued his good form during the international break, netting in Canada's World Cup warm-up win over host nation Qatar.

The creativity of Remy Cabella has also contributed to the strong offensive start to the season, with him picking up four assists, which ties him for third in the league, only behind Lionel Messi and Neymar.

Defensively, however, there seems to be an issue which needs resolving, with Lille having conceded the joint-most goals in the top half of the league.

If it isn't at this stage already, the backline may be in need of some refreshing, with Jose Fonte at 38 still playing a key role having started every minute of the season so far.

Lille will be looking to kickstart their season in this fixture, with both their previous away fixtures being 3-1 victories. Momentum built during this period of the season could be crucial before the break comes for the World Cup.

Team News

Regis Le Bris will be hoping that Terem Moffi will have rested and recovered well following his goalscoring exploits for Nigeria away to Algeria during the break, so that he is in top form to continue where he left off for Lorient.

The starting lineup, barring any late issues, will more than likely be the same as the team who played the last fixture as there is no need to break up a winning formula. Lorient will most likely line up in the same 4-2-3-1 formation which has led to a lot of success recently.

After starting the first six games of the season, it now looks like Leonardo Jardim has been dropped as the first-choice keeper as Lucas Chevalier has started the last two fixtures.

Remy Cabella is set to return after missing the game against Toulouse before the international break but may only start from the bench as he is coming back from injury.

Lille manager Paulo Fonseca has a full squad to choose from for the first time this season, which means the return of Timothy Weah who is yet to appear this term.

Lorient possible starting lineup:
Mvogo; Le Goff, Talbi, Laporte, Kalulu; Innocent, Abergel, Ouattara, Le Fee, Diarra; Moffi

Lille possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Ismaily, Yoro, Fonte, Diakite; Gomes, Andre, Bamba, Gomes, Ounas; David

We say: Lorient 3-2 Lille

With the form that Lorient are in and with Lille's defensive vulnerability, it is hard to see anything but a Lorient win.

Lille will be expected to score a few goals with the quality of Jonathan David leading their attack, but we are backing the hosts to come out on top.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Previews by email