Lille will endeavour to edge themselves closer to the European qualification places when they travel to Stadium TFC to face Toulouse in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

The hosts, meanwhile, are looking to finish the season strongly as they bid to climb into the top 10, a year on from winning the Ligue 2 title.

Match preview

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Toulouse bounced back from a narrow 1-0 home defeat against Clermont when they secured a 2-0 away victory over basement club Angers last weekend.

After Mikkel Desler opened the scoring in the 37th minute, Thijs Dallinga netted his 10th goal of the season just a minute into the second half, and Les Violets held on to claim their 10th top-flight win of the season, keeping their first clean sheet since the end of January in the process.

Philippe Montanier's side, who secured promotion to Ligue 1 last season, are on course to maintain their top-flight status this term as they currently sit 11th in the table, 12 points clear of the relegation zone with 11 games remaining.

Toulouse head into Saturday's clash seeking to avoid a third successive league defeat at Stadium TFC, and they can be confident of coming away with a positive result against Lille as they have lost only two of their last 10 home league meetings with Les Dogues.

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Lille, meanwhile, have won just one of their last six away games across all competitions and they have only picked up maximum points in five of their 13 top-flight matches on the road this season.

Paulo Fonseca's men have had to rely on their strong home form to keep them in contention for a European spot, with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Lyon last weekend extending their unbeaten run at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy to 11 matches.

Star forward Jonathan David scored a superb second-half hat-trick, increasing his Ligue 1 goal tally to 19 for the season and moving level with Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot. However, Les Dogues let a two-goal lead slip in the final seven minutes, with Lyon's Alexandre Lacazette netting a late brace to force both sides to share the spoils.

Despite claiming only a point, sixth-placed Lille have capitalised on Monaco's defeat against Reims and moved to within five points of the top four, but the gap to the Champions League places has increased to eight points as a result of Lens beating Clermont.

Lille can take confidence from their 2-1 victory over Toulouse in the reverse fixture earlier this season, and another win on Saturday will see them complete the league double over Les Violets for the first time in five years.

Team News

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Toulouse will still be without Manchester-born striker Rhys Healey (ACL) and Kevin Keben (hamstring) due to injury, while Rafael Ratao played for 45 minutes last weekend after recovering from a minor issue and is available for selection on Saturday.

Winger Fares Chaibi, who scored away against Lille back in September, will be hoping to force his way back into the first XI at the expense of either Ratao or Zakaria Aboukhlal, while the rest of Montanier's team could remain unchanged.

As for Lille, Jose Fonte missed the draw with Lyon due to a hamstring injury and the 39-year-old is doubtful for Saturday's contest, while Bafode Diakite (hamstring), Tiago Djalo (knee) and Ismaily (thigh) all remained in the treatment room.

Benjamin Andre picked up his third yellow card in less than 10 games and will therefore serve a one-match suspension, with Angel Gomes potentially dropping back into a deeper centre-midfield role alongside Andre Gomes as a result.

Remy Cabella could move into the number 10 role and Adam Ounas – who scored the winner against Toulouse earlier this season – will be pushing to start on the left flank, while Timothy Weah is set to continue as a makeshift right-back in the absence of Diakite.

Toulouse possible starting lineup:
Dupe; Desler, Nicolaisen, Rouault, Suazo; Spierings, Van den Boomen; Aboukhlal, Dejaegere, Chaibi; Dallinga

Lille possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Weah, Yoro, Alexsandro, Gudmundsson; Angel Gomes, Andre Gomes; Bamba, Cabella, Ounas; David

We say: Toulouse 1-1 Lille

A closely-fought contest between two inconsistent teams is set to be played out at Stadium TFC, and although Lille will be regarded as slight favourites to come out on top, we believe that Toulouse will follow up last weekend's win with a hard-fought point on home soil.

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

Written by
Oliver Thomas

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