We’re entering the final stages of the Ligue 1 season as teams up and down French football’s top flight attempt to finish the campaign off strong. It’s been a rollercoaster ride up to this point and over the course of the next few weeks, we expect to see more of the same across the nation. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the upcoming encounter between Lille and Strasbourg.
Lille Form GuideWe are a few years removed from the heroics of Lille winning Ligue One and ever since then, they haven’t quite been able to sustain the momentum they built for themselves. That doesn’t mean they haven’t got a good base or a good squad - far from it. What it does mean, however, is that they need to start thinking outside of the box if they want to compete with the big boys.
Following three straight draws against Rennes, Sturm Graz and Brest, Lille got back on the horse with wins over Lens and Marseille. Last week, they battled Aston Villa in the first leg of their Conference League quarter-final, falling to a narrow 2-1 defeat in England.
Strasbourg Form GuideStrasbourg, in the eyes of romantic football historians, hold a special place in the annals of the French game. However, after barely avoiding relegation last season, there’s a lot of pressure on them to perform. They still aren’t completely out of the woods yet when it comes to getting away from the drop zone this time around, so it’ll be interesting to see how they navigate through that.
After a 2-2 draw with Montpellier and a 1-0 loss to Monaco, Strasbourg were able to put together a nice four-game unbeaten streak that they are currently riding. They beat Nantes and Rennes before a 0-0 draw with Toulouse, and most recently, they defeated Reims 3-1.
Match PredictionThere’s certainly a gap in quality between these two sides when you really take a look at how they both play. Of course, that isn’t always a clear indicator of who will win the game, but in this instance, it just feels like Lille have more to fight for - which is why we’re backing them to win.
