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

Toulouse welcome LOSC Lille to the Stadium de Toulouse on Thursday evening for gameweek three of the 2026-27 Ligue 1 campaign.

In their previous league outing, Les Violets were held to a 2-2 draw away to Brest, while Les Dogues’ clash with Paris Saint-Germain at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy produced the same scoreline.

Match preview

After an extremely positive 2025-26 season in which they wrapped up their league endeavours in ninth place, their highest finish for 14 years, Toulouse will be disappointed with how they have started their latest Ligue 1 campaign.

Suffering a 2-0 defeat at home to Lyon on the opening weekend before conceding late to draw 2-2 with Brest on Saturday, Les Violets have picked up just one point so far this season and as a result currently sit in the division’s relegation playoff spot.

Although they were unbeaten in each of their first three summer fixtures, including a 2-1 victory against Spanish side Real Sociedad, Jens Berthel Askou’s men did not enter the campaign with much positivity either, losing their final two pre-season matches and losing both Methalie Dayan and Emersonn to Premier League teams in the transfer market.

However, Toulouse will be confident that they can pick up their form again in the coming weeks, with fixtures against fellow strugglers Lorient and Le Havre before the international break giving Les Violets a great opportunity to finally kick start their campaign.

The hosts will have to be on top form to take anything from Thursday’s bout though as they come up against a strong Lille outfit who they have beat just once in the previous nine meetings between the sides, losing each of the remaining eight.

Finishing in the UEFA Champions League qualification places last season for only the second time since their historic 2020-21 Ligue 1 title triumph, Lille will be content with how they have begun their latest top flight campaign.

Despite conceding two late goals to take just a point from their home fixture with French giants PSG on Friday evening, only AS Monaco and Paris FC have posted a better start to the season than Les Dogues, who sit third in the Ligue 1 table having also claimed a 2-0 victory against Angers on the opening weekend.

Following their encounter with the reigning French and European champions last week, Davide Ancelotti will certainly be looking for his side to maintain or better their spot near the summit too, with three of Lille’s next four opponents currently sat inside the bottom half of the table and a trio of fixtures over that span coming on home soil.

While they have lost promising young midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi to Manchester City in a deal worth €95 million, Les Douges have also bought well in recent weeks, recruiting Maurits Kjaergaard as the Moroccan’s replacement and bringing in prolific Japanese striker Ayase Ueda from Feyenoord for a shrewd €15 million fee.

Taking all three points in each of their previous four meetings with Toulouse, the most recent of which was a 4-0 drubbing at the Stadium de Toulouse in April, Lille will certainly fancy their chances of climbing to top spot in Ligue 1 this week, with current table toppers Monaco facing a tricky away trip to PSG on Friday evening.

Toulouse Ligue 1 form:

Lille Ligue 1 form:

Team News

Following his return from a double leg fracture last month, Toulouse midfielder Abu Francis has suffered another setback and is expected to be out for Thursday’s match.

Norwegian midfielder Aron Donnum is also currently unavailable for Les Violets due to personal reasons, while youngster Alexis Vossah returned to the matchday squad on Friday after serving a suspension on the opening weekend.

Having netted eight league goals last season, the most of any player for the hosts, Yann Gboho is certainly Askou’s biggest offensive weapon and will be hoping to open his account for the campaign this week.

Moving to Newcastle United for a reported €65 million, Lille are now without the services of Belgian winger Matias Fernandez-Pardo, adding to their loss of Bouaddi.

Rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in January, 23-year-old defender Hamza Igamane continues to be unavailable for Les Douges, while it remains to be seen whether Tanguy Nianzou returns from a recent muscle injury.

With three goal contributions in the opening two fixtures, it looks as though veteran striker Olivier Giroud may be Ancelotti’s main man for the upcoming campaign, especially with Fernandez-Pardo, who was the club’s top league scorer last season, now gone.

Toulouse possible starting lineup:

Restes; Diallo, McKenzie, Nicolaisen, Tape; Casseres, Schmidt; Vignolo, Jorgensen, Gboho; Russell-Rowe

Lille possible starting lineup:

Ozer; Santos, Ngoy, Alexsandro, Perraud; Andre, Bentaleb; Mbappe, Haraldsson, Correia; Giroud

We say: Toulouse 1-3 Lille

After such a dismal start to the season, Toulouse will desperately want to return to winning ways on Thursday as they aim for consecutive top half Ligue 1 finishes for the first time since 2014.

However, with Lille looking like they are going to be competitive amongst the league’s big boys once again this season, we cannot see Les Violets getting a result and although it will not be convincing, we predict the visitors to take all three points.

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