Dark-horses Lille welcome Austrian champions Sturm Graz to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on matchday six of the Champions League this Wednesday.
This will be the third time the clubs have met in 2024, having also been drawn together in the round of 16 of last season's Conference League, with Lille coming out on top 4-1 on aggregate, following a 3-0 first-leg away win in Graz.
Match preview
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Along with fellow French clubs Monaco and Brest, Lille have been one of the surprise packages of the Champions League so far this season.
Wins over both Madrid clubs and gaining four points in clashes with Italian opponents Juventus and Bologna mean Bruno Genesio's men are on the cusp of the top eight, sitting outside the automatic last 16 places on goal difference in a congested league table.
The stat which illustrates their phenomenal start the most is the fact they have now won six of their last eight group stage/league phase fixtures in this competition, the same number of victories they managed in their first 39 such matches.
They now face what the coefficient would class as their easiest game across the league phase, pot-four Sturm Graz on home soil, and they will hope to end a run of 14 straight home games in the Champions League where they have only scored one goal or fewer.
This will be the game they target the most for three points out of their final three, with a trip to Liverpool to come, before finishing the league phase at home to Feyenoord.
Les Dogues will fear no team though, considering they are in the midst of a 14-game unbeaten run since losing to Sporting Lisbon on matchday one.
That run was extended on Friday, when Jonathan David netted his 100th goal in Lille colours on the way to a 3-1 win over Brest, which kept them fourth and within touching distance of both Marseille and Monaco in the top three.
If the task was not daunting enough already, visitors Sturm have history they must overturn if they are to take anything here, considering they have never won a European fixture in France, losing on four of their five trips.
The most recent of those defeats was on matchday one, when they were beaten 2-1 by debutants Brest, but they should take more confidence into this one, after claiming their first points of the campaign by beating Girona on matchday five.
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Interim manager Jurgen Saumel oversaw that win after taking over from Christian Ilzer, who left for Hoffenheim, and the new boss remains unbeaten in four games since taking the reins.
That run will be under threat here though, considering Sturm have only won one of their 14 Champions League away games - losing 11.
To have any chance of sneaking into the top 24, the Austrians must win at least two of their final three games, and even then that might not be enough.
With their domestic campaign now taking a temporary pause for the winter, Sturm's next three matches will all be in the Champions League, meaning they will go over a month without a competitive game before facing Atalanta and RB Leipzig in their last two.
Saumel guided Sturm to a 3-0 win away to Tirol to sign off for the winter break at the weekend, keeping them three points clear at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga.
Team News
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David is set to lead the line after netting goal number 100 for Lille over the weekend, and behind him, Ngal'ayel Mukau will be seeking to become the youngest player to score in back-to-back games for the club in the Champions League.
Mitchel Bakker will be available despite currently serving a domestic suspension following a red card against Montpellier, and will hope for some minutes ahead of Gabriel Gudmundsson at left-back.
On the injury front, Angel Gomes is the most notable absentee, joining Tiago Santos, Ethan Mbappe, Samuel Umtiti and Nabil Bentaleb on the sidelines.
Sturm remain without first-choice goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen, so Russian youngster Daniil Khudyakov is expected to deputise for the Brighton & Hove Albion loanee once again.
After a lengthy spell out with an ACL tear, Alexander Borkovic is back in training and could be return to the side in the near future.
As he makes a comeback though, Erencan Yardimci picked up an injury at the weekend and was forced off just moments before Tochi Chukwuani was sent off, but that domestic dismissal will not affect his availability here.
Lille possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Meunier, Alexsandro, Diakite, Bakker; Mukau, Andre, Bouaddi; Zhegrova, David, Sahraoui
Sturm Graz possible starting lineup:
Khudyakov: Gazibegovic, Aiwu, Geyrhofer, Lavalee; Chukwuani, Yalcouye, Boving, Kiteishvili; Biereth, Jatta
We say: Lille 2-1 Sturm Graz
On a 14-game unbeaten run having beaten some of Europe's elite along the way, failing to win at home to one of the weakest clubs in the competition would be a huge shock, and Lille should get the job done.
It may not be straightforward against a Sturm side riding high under interim boss Saumel though, and the visitors could make this difficult for Les Dogues, even if defeat is likely.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
