Preview: Lille vs Le Havre - prediction, team news, lineups

A massive three points will be at stake for both Lille and Le Havre when they square off on Sunday in Ligue 1 action at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Last week, Lille moved into third thanks to a narrow 1-0 triumph over Paris FC, while the Normandy club are 14th after a wild 4-4 draw with Metz.

Match preview

The race for the Champions League places could not be any closer, with just one point currently separating Lille from Rennes, with the latter in fifth.

At the same time, Les Dogues are only below Lyon for a place in the League Phase of that tournament due to head-to-head points.

Bruno Genesio’s side are on an 11-match unbeaten run in this competition and could stretch that streak to a dozen on Sunday for the first time since September 2024 to January 2025 (14).

If they win their final two league contests at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, they will reach double-digits for home victories for a fourth successive Ligue 1 campaign.

Lille have not conceded in any of their previous four domestic affairs, while allowing just two goals in five Ligue 1 home games since February.

Four of their last five top-flight meetings versus Le Havre have gone the way of Les Nordistes, who beat them 1-0 in Normandy last November.

Once again, Le Havre find themselves cutting it close in the race to avoid relegation one more time.

With three Ligue 1 matches still to play, they find themselves six points above the relegation playoff line, without a win in their last nine such contests.

That said, they have points in four consecutive domestic games and could guarantee themselves another season in Ligue 1 with a point on Sunday and an Auxerre loss.

Le Havre are still without an away win in the top-flight this year, but have picked up a point in those previous two outings outside of Stade Oceane.

Didier Digard’s men could equal their entire points total from the previous campaign with a win in their upcoming fixture, conceding a goal or fewer in their last two domestic road games.

Although their record against Lille recently has not been great, Les Ciel et Marine won their previous visit to Stade Pierre-Mauroy 2-1 last season.

Lille Ligue 1 form:

Lille form (all competitions):

Le Havre Ligue 1 form:

Team News

© Imago

Expect Lille to be without Marc-Aurele Caillard on Sunday as he continues to recover from an elbow issue, Marius Broholm has a sore leg, Nabil Bentaleb is questionable with an infection, while Hamza Igamane and Ousmane Toure are out with cruciate ligament tears.

Matias Fernandez-Pardo converted a 27th-minute penalty last weekend, while Berke Ozer did not have to make a single stop for his league-leading 12th clean sheet of the campaign.

Over at Le Havre, Abdoulaye Toure has a knee issue, Stephan Zagadou is out with a cruciate ligament injury, while Arouna Sangante will be suspended for one more game.

Fode Doucoure, Yanis Zouaoui, Yassine Kechta and Mbwana Samatta netted in their back-and-forth outing with Metz.

Lille possible starting lineup:

Ozer; Meunier, Ngoy, Mandi, Perraud; Andre, Mukau; Haraldsson, Bouaddi, Correia; Fernandez-Pardo

Le Havre possible starting lineup:

Diaw; Nego, Seko, Lloris, Zouaoui; Ndiaye, Ebonog; Doucoure, Kechta, Soumare; Samatta

We say: Lille 2-0 Le Havre

Finding clear-cut spaces against Lille will not be as easy for Le Havre as it was last week, and we trust the overall depth and firepower of the home side will prevail in this one.

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