A tantalizing showdown at the top of the Ligue 1 table takes place on Sunday night as leaders Lille travel to fourth-placed Lyon in the final fixture of gameweek 34.
The hosts' most recent fixture saw them suffer a 2-0 defeat in the Coupe de France quarter-finals to Monaco, whereas Lille left it late to rescue a point against Montpellier HSC.
Match preview
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With any hopes of a triumphant run in the Coupe de France dashed by Monaco's deadly duo Wissam Ben Yedder and Kevin Volland in midweek, Rudi Garcia's Lyon must quickly regain consistency in Ligue 1 if their 2020-21 campaign is to end with a long-awaited trophy in the cabinet.
Les Gones have hit a patchy spell of league form in recent weeks, but they did at least manage to post back-to-back wins against Angers and Nantes with their newly-successful 4-2-3-1 setup - a system which Memphis Depay and Lucas Paqueta are thriving in at just the right moment.
However, with just four wins from their last nine in the top division, Lyon sit fourth in the table but only three points behind current leaders Lille - although that could change on Saturday when Paris Saint-Germain face Metz - and the congested nature of the top of the table means that it is anyone's game in the race for the title.
A return to the European stage would still constitute a successful season for Lyon, but for a team that topped the table at the end of 2020, a fourth-placed finish would ultimately be viewed as a major disappointment after such a promising run.
Lyon's reward for victory here could be a stint at the top of the pile if Monaco and PSG both fall to shock defeats in their gameweek 34 matches, but Montpellier and PSG have got the better of Garcia's men at the Groupama Stadium recently, and a fired-up Lille would clear a massive hurdle should they come up trumps here.
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The quest to dethrone PSG is almost complete, and a perfect record of 15 points from the final 15 on offer would confirm Lille's status as Ligue 1 champions, but Christophe Galtier's side did leave the door open for the champions to temporarily reclaim top spot after a 1-1 draw with Montpellier.
Andy Delort's 21st-minute header appeared to set La Paillade on their way to a shock win over the league leaders, but Luiz Araujo came off the bench to curl a delightful left-footed strike past a stranded Jonas Omlin into the back of the net as Lille remained one point clear at the top of the standings.
However, PSG could rise to the summit should they beat Metz on Saturday, but if Lille manage to take the spoils at the Groupama Stadium, Galtier's men can look ahead to friendlier fixtures with Nice, Lens, Saint-Etienne and Angers in the knowledge that the title is theirs to lose.
Les Dogues have shipped just 20 goals all the season - the fewest in the league - and they will be aiming to stretch their unbeaten away league run to 12 matches on Sunday evening, during which time they have won nine of their last 10 on the road.
Unsurprisingly, Lille boast the best away record in the division and are the only team in the league yet to concede double figures on rival territory this season, although Depay and co will hope to change that as the race for supremacy prepares to go down to the wire.
The two clubs played out a 1-1 draw at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in November, although that stalemate marked Lyon's eighth Ligue 1 game in a row without victory against Lille, who last lost a league fixture to Les Gones in November 2016.
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Team News
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Lyon defender Sinaly Diomande was given his marching orders in the Coupe de France defeat, but the youngster was always likely to drop out for Jason Denayer, who enjoyed a complete rest in midweek.
Houssem Aouar was restricted to an appearance from the bench against Monaco and that will likely be the case again here, as Bruno Guimaraes should be the one to earn a start over Thiago Mendes in the middle.
Tino Kadewere is also questionable as he attempts to shake off a niggling thigh problem, so Islam Slimani is set to get the nod up top once again.
Renato Sanches had been enjoying a stint on the right-hand side of the Lille midfield before sustaining a minor injury, although Galtier has confirmed that both Sanches and Jeremy Pied will be available for this clash.
Timothy Weah has been ruled out with a thigh problem, but Jonathan David should return to the final third alongside Burak Yilmaz regardless, meaning another substitute outing for Yusuf Yazici.
Araujo is unlikely to earn a start over Jonathan Ikone despite his crucial equaliser against Montpellier, but Sanches could challenge Boubakary Soumare for a place in midfield.
Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Dubois, Marcelo, Denayer, Cornet; Caqueret, Guimaraes; Toko Ekambi, Paqueta, Depay; Slimani
Lille possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Celik, Fonte, Botman, Reinildo; Ikone, Andre, Sanches, Bamba; David, Yilmaz
We say: Lyon 1-1 Lille
Lyon could have easily dumped Monaco out of the Coupe de France on another day, but frazzled brains and fatigued legs could yet hinder their chances of blowing the title race wide open this weekend.
David's return to fitness will be a significant boost for Lille as they bid to remain atop their perch, and as impressive as their away form is, Garcia may have struck gold with the 4-2-3-1 and we can see Lyon holding their title rivals to a point - a result which will be gratefully received by PSG and Monaco.
Top tip
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 Lyon win with a probability of 48.66%. A draw had a probability of 25.9% and a win for Lille had a probability of 25.48%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lyon win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.07%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.27%) and 2-0 (9.11%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.26%), while for a Lille win it was 0-1 (8.12%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 1.6% likelihood.
