Preview:Lille vs Lyon - prediction, team news, lineups

In a matchup between the joint-highest-scoring team in Ligue 1 and the top defensive unit, Lille host Lyon on Sunday at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Last week Les Dogues moved down to fifth in the standings with a 3-0 defeat at Lens, putting them two points behind Lyon for third after the latter blanked Angers 1-0.

Match preview

For the first time all season the Lille attack looked human last week, suffering their first defeat of the campaign, and failing to score for the first time as well.

Playing at home, though, may be exactly what they need to get back on track with Bruno Genesio’s side suffering just one defeat domestically at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Les Nordistes have often come back strong after a poor outing, winning 87% of their Ligue 1 encounters after a defeat since the beginning of 2023-24.

At home they tend to leave it late but often manage to come away with something, with the joint-highest-scoring team winning their last three Ligue 1 home contests thanks to a goal beyond the 86th minute.

This weekend, Lille can win their first three home outings in this competition for the first time since the 2019-20 season, without a single defeat at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in that campaign before the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a victory on Sunday, Lille would equal their best start to a Ligue 1 campaign after six matchdays, from the 2018-19 season (13 points).

Having to sell numerous dynamic attacking players in the summer, Lyon have found another way to be successful early in this season.

Under the leadership of Jorge Maciel, who is filling in for the suspended Paulo Fonseca, OL have been airtight defensively, with clean sheets in five of their six competitive fixtures in 2024-25.

The last 11 times that they have drawn first blood in this competition, Lyon came away with maximum points, failing to concede in those previous five instances.

Lyon can start a Ligue 1 campaign with five wins from their first six matchdays on Sunday for the first time since 2008-09 when they wound up third.

Seven of their previous 12 top-flight away games ended in defeat, while they would equal their longest losing run as the visitors last season with a loss this weekend.

Les Gones have points in five consecutive visits to Stade Pierre-Mauroy, with their last victory away to Lille occurring in 2024 (4-3).

Lille Ligue 1 form:

Lille form (all competitions):

Lyon Ligue 1 form:

Lyon form (all competitions):

Team News

A muscle strain kept Alexsandro out of the Lille lineup last week, Thomas Meunier had a sore groin, Benjamin Andre was out due to a knock and Romain Perraud left in the opening half because of an ankle injury.

Meanwhile, Ousmane Toure and Tiago Santos sat out with cruciate ligament tears, while an elbow issue left Marc-Aurele Caillard on the sidelines once again.

OL goalkeeper Remy Descamps missed their match against Angers with a wrist injury, Orel Mangala and Ernest Nuamah had cruciate ligament issues, while Tyler Morton is eligible to return on Sunday from suspension.

Tanner Tessmann netted a second-half strike versus Angers, while Dominik Greif made two stops to pick up his first career Ligue 1 clean sheet between the sticks.

Lille possible starting lineup:

Ozer; Mandi, Ngoy, Mbemba, Verdonk; Bentaleb, Bouaddi; Fernandez-Pardo, Haraldsson, Sahraoui; Giroud

Lyon possible starting lineup:

Greif; Maitland-Niles, Mata, Niakhate, Tagliafico; Tessmann, Morton; Sulc, Tolisso, Fofana; Satriano

We say: Lille 2-1 Lyon

This is a tough match to call, as both teams have begun the season well, but ultimately, we believe Lille’s resiliency and attacking depth will prevail.

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