Two sides occupying spots at opposite ends of the table will lock horns on Sunday afternoon as a struggling Strasbourg welcome high-flyers Lille to the Stade de la Meinau.
The hosts suffered a narrow defeat to Monaco in gameweek five, whereas Lille got back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Nantes last Friday.
Match preview
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Fresh from their first victory of the 2020-21 campaign against fellow strugglers Dijon, Strasbourg had little time to revel in that win as they faced a challenging test against Monaco in their fifth game of the season.
Monaco finished the game with nine men as Axel Disasi and Aurelien Tchouameni were both made to take the walk of shame, and even though Ludovic Ajorque's penalty set up a nervy finale, the damage was done early on in the game and Monaco held on for a 3-2 victory.
Strasbourg had the advantage of two extra men for the final 20 minutes of the game and would have undoubtedly been devastated to come out on the wrong end of the scoreline, with Laurey's men having now lost four of their opening five fixtures in the French top flight.
Laurey's men must face another daunting match with Lyon after the international break, and as things stand, Strasbourg currently occupy a spot in the bottom three ahead of their showdown with second-placed Lille.
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As one of only two sides yet to taste defeat in the 2020-21 season, Lille ought to feel confident of keeping that run going against a lowly Strasbourg in gameweek six.
Christophe Galtier's side have enjoyed victories over Reims, Metz and Nantes thus far, and Lille have only shipped two goals from their opening five matches - the joint-best defensive record in the league alongside Bordeaux and Paris Saint-Germain.
Lille eventually managed to prevail against Nantes with minimal trouble, but Les Dogues had a Nicolas Pallois own goal to thank before veteran striker Burak Yilmaz made sure of the win from the penalty spot with three minutes remaining.
Galtier's men can leapfrog Rennes and finish the weekend atop the rankings should the current leaders lose in gameweek six, but Rennes are facing a Reims side struggling for results and will be expected to come out on top in that fixture.
Lille did the double over Strasbourg in the 2019-20 season, with a 2-0 triumph at home preceding a 2-1 victory in this fixture back in February.
Strasbourg Ligue 1 form: LLLWL
Lille Ligue 1 form: DWWDW
Team News
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Strasbourg forward Majeed Waris had to be forced off at half time in the loss to Monaco, and the striker is a major doubt for the weekend.
Should the 29-year-old not recover in time for Sunday, Mehdi Chahiri could come into the fold after bagging a goal mere moments after coming off the bench last Sunday.
Matz Sels and Lebo Mothiba are out for the long term, while Adrien Lebeau has an outside chance of being involved after picking up a knock in training.
As for Lille, Adama Soumaoro and Cheikh Niasse are not expected to be back just yet after testing positive for coronavirus last month, but Galtier could very well stick with the same starting lineup from last Friday.
That would mean that Jonathan Ikone and Boubakary Soumare will have to accept another weekend on the substitutes bench, although both players came on in the win over Nantes and will be vying for starts here.
Strasbourg possible starting lineup:
Kamara; Lala, Simakan, Mitrovic, Carole; Djiku, Sissoko, Bellegarde; Thomasson; Ajorque, Chahiri
Lille possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Celik, Fonte, Botman, Bradaric; Ikone, Andre, Sanches, Bamba; David, Yilmaz
We say: Strasbourg 0-2 Lille
Lille have already kept three clean sheets from five games this season and are facing a Strasbourg side who have only notched up four strikes at the correct end of the pitch. The hosts will be spurred on by their disheartening defeat to Monaco, but Les Dogues should run out comfortable winners on Sunday afternoon.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a draw or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Draw/Away:data
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Lille win with a probability of 37.34%. A win for Strasbourg had a probability of 35.3% and a draw had a probability of 27.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lille win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.06%) and 0-2 (6.71%). The likeliest Strasbourg win was 1-0 (10.42%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.95%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 2.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Lille would win this match.
