Two teams with plenty still to play for at opposite ends of the Ligue 1 table will do battle in the penultimate round of fixtures on Saturday, as Lille welcome Nantes to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
With two league games left to play, the hosts sit fifth with a two-point gap to fourth-placed Monaco, while their visitors are one point adrift of safety in 17th spot.
Match preview
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Having sat just outside of the top four for the majority of the Ligue 1 campaign, Lille head into the final two games of the season still with some hope of leapfrogging Monaco and taking fourth spot, largely thanks to a crucial win last time out.
A 3-0 beating of Ajaccio left Les Dogues within touching distance of the fourth-placed side, but they would then quickly lose ground again in the fight for Europa League qualification, suffering a 1-0 defeat away at Reims as Marshall Munetsi's first-half goal made the difference between the sides.
A pivotal meeting with Monaco did then follow, and the gap between the two teams remained at five points heading into the final three league matches as the points were shared in a goalless draw at the Stade Louis II.
Aiming to bounce back from those results and keep their hopes of a top-four finish alive, Paulo Fonseca's men most recently faced a tough test at home to third-placed Marseille on Saturday, and after trailing 1-0 at the interval, they would turn the game on its head with Jonathan David and Jonathan Bamba finding the net to seal all three points.
After Monaco suffered a defeat in their trip to Lyon on Friday, Fonseca's men now find themselves within two points of the Europa League place in France's top flight, and they will hope to climb into the top four with another victory on Saturday ahead of their final-day meeting with Troyes.
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They meet a Nantes side who are also in desperate need of a win for different reasons, with the visitors fighting to escape the relegation zone in the final two outings of the Ligue 1 campaign.
After finishing ninth with 55 points last time around, it has certainly been a tough season for La Maison Jaune, who have managed just six wins and 33 points from their 36 outings thus far.
Nantes did look set for a relatively comfortable finish when they sat on 28 points from 23 games in mid-February, but they have since had to endure a dismal run of form in which they have failed to post another league victory in 13 attempts, picking up just five more points along the way.
That meant that La Maison Jaune dropped into the bottom four earlier in May, and following a 2-0 defeat to Strasbourg, Antoine Kombouare was dismissed as manager, but interim boss Pierre Aristouy has been unable to inspire a turnaround thus far, with Nantes drawing 0-0 in his opening game against Toulouse before most recently suffering a 3-0 beating at the hands of Montpellier.
Thanks to fellow strugglers Auxerre also suffering a tough run, Aristouy's side do remain just a point adrift of safety, but with just two games left to play, they will know that they must put up a result in a tough trip on Saturday while hoping that the 16th-placed side fall to another defeat in their bid to move out of the bottom four.
Team News
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Lille could come into Saturday's meeting with an unchanged starting XI from their victory over Marseille, although experienced centre-back Jose Fonte will hope to come back into the defence, having returned to contention after serving a suspension.
Fellow defender Alexsandro will also return after his own suspension, and they could reform their partnership in the middle of the back line, while Andre Gomes and Benjamin Andre will continue to feature in the engine room.
Their line will be led by Jonathan David, who has enjoyed his most prolific season yet for Les Dogues, having taken his tally to 22 Ligue 1 goals for the campaign in the Marseille game, while the likes of Jonathan Bamba, Remy Cabella, Mohamed Bayo and Angel Gomes will also battle to start in the attacking positions.
Nantes will likely look to make several changes after their beating at the hands of Montpellier last weekend, and Mostafa Mohamed should come back in from the outset to lead the line having netted a team-high tally of eight league goals this season since arriving on loan from Galatasaray.
Nice loanee Andy Delort will hope to lead the line once again but is yet to score in 12 appearances in France's top flight for La Maison Jaune, while Ludovic Blas is bound to play a key role at the tip of the midfield having contributed seven goals and four assists in Ligue 1 this term.
Former Tottenham Hotspur man Moussa Sissoko should also come back in to offer experience in midfield, while Jean-Charles Castelletto, Andrei Girotto and Nicolas Pallois will all hope to keep their places in the back three.
Lille possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Diakite, Alexsandro, Fonte, Ismaily; Gomes, Andre; Cabella, Bayo; Bamba, David
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Castelletto, Girotto, Pallois; Centonze, Moutoussamy, Sissoko, Appuah; Blas, Simon; Mohamed
We say: Lille 2-0 Nantes
With both sides in need of a result at the back end of the campaign, we certainly anticipate a competitive encounter but expect Fonseca's side to have too much quality for their struggling visitors and take all three points on home turf as a result.
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Top tip
Sam Varley
