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Saturday sees Montpellier play host to Lille at the Stade de la Mosson in a key Ligue 1 match.
Montpellier are currently in seventh place in the table, while last season’s champions Lille are sitting in 11th, but are just two points below them.
Which one of these sides will come out on top of what should be an entertaining game?
Montpellier vs Lille Head-to-Head
After an inconsistent start under new boss Olivier Dall’Oglio, it looked like Montpellier were beginning to hit their stride as 2021 came to an end.
They won four games in a row, and scored 12 goals in the process, climbing to fifth in the table at one point and leaving their fans dreaming of European qualification.
However, since 2022 began, they have won just one match – a 3-2 thriller against Monaco two weeks ago – and most recently fell to struggling Saint-Etienne in a disappointing defeat.
Lille, meanwhile, have struggled for traction from the off this season, and have clearly missed the guiding hand of the manager who led them to the Ligue 1 title, Christophe Galtier.
They won just four of their opening 15 matches, but in December, they did appear to have turned things around with a 1-2 win over Rennes.
Les Dogues put together an unbeaten run of nine matches leading into January, but have now lost their last two matches, suffering a humiliating 1-5 defeat to Paris St. Germain last weekend.
Worryingly for the home side, they have failed to defeat Lille in their last six meetings, most recently falling to a 2-1 defeat in August.
Montpellier form guide: L-L-W-D-L
Lille form guide: L-D-W-L-L
Montpellier vs Lille Team News
Montpellier
With their players now back from the AFCON, Montpellier have only a handful of injuries – but will be without the dangerous Stephy Mavididi due to a knee injury.
Injured: Stephy Mavididi, Thibault Tamas
Doubtful: Pedro Mendes, Maxime Esteve
Suspended: None
Lille
At the time of writing, Lille have no injuries or suspensions to report.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Montpellier vs Lille Predicted XI
Montpellier predicted XI (4-3-1-2): Jonas Omlin, Arnaud Souquet, Nicolas Cozza, Mamadou Sakho, Mihailo Ristic, Florent Mollet, Jordan Ferri, Nicholas Gioacchini, Teji Savanier, Valere Germain, Sepe Elye Wahi
Lille predicted XI (4-4-2): Ivo Grbic, Zeki Celik, Jose Fonte, Sven Botman, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Angel Gomes, Renato Sanches, Xeka, Jonathan Bamba, Burak Yilmaz, Jonathan David
Montpellier vs Lille Prediction
This should be a tough one to call as both sides will be looking to bounce back from their disappointing losses last weekend.
However, Lille might just have the edge here, as more of their main players are fit and their attacking talent has the ability to break through a shaky Montpellier defense.
We therefore expect a tight away win for Lille.
Prediction: Montpellier 0-1 Lille
