Aiming to crack the top three in the Ligue 1 table with a second straight win, Lille will travel to take on Toulouse on Sunday.
The visitors currently sit fourth and only trail Nice by a single point, while their hosts find themselves 13th and on the back of an exit from the Europa League in midweek.
Match preview
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Toulouse return to Ligue 1 action on Sunday following an end to their Europa League campaign in midweek, having improved in the fight for survival in France's top flight in recent weeks.
Following a 13th-placed finish last time around, alongside a first-ever Coupe de France title to book their place in Europe's secondary competition, Les Violets endured a dismal first half to the new campaign and sat in the bottom three after 17 matches as a 10-game winless run left them on just 14 points.
Their European run was a shining light in late 2023, however, booking a Europa League playoff spot with a second-placed group finish, and Carles Martinez's side have been able to improve on the domestic front since the turn of the year, too, adding nine points to their tally in the last five attempts, albeit having not built a consistent run with defeats breaking up their three league wins.
Indeed, it is on their travels where Martinez's side have excelled, with wins away at Metz and Reims immediately followed by home defeats to Lens and Nantes respectively, before travelling to Monaco for a difficult test in their last league outing on Sunday and prevailing in a surprise 2-1 win thanks to goals from Vincent Sierro and Logan Costa either side of the interval.
Having since played the second leg of their Europa League playoff tie against Benfica and dropped out of the competition with a goalless draw on the night resulting in a 2-1 aggregate defeat, Toulouse will now have their full focus on Ligue 1, and now sitting 13th but still with just a one-point lead over the bottom three, they will be desperate to end their poor run of home form and make it back-to-back top-flight wins to increase their cushion.
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In their way stand a Lille side who will set out to strengthen their position at the top end of the division at the weekend, having moved to within touching distance of the top three last time out.
Aiming to improve on last season's fifth-placed finish, Les Dogues have enjoyed a strong campaign thus far, putting themselves in the fight for a top-three finish and Champions League qualification having earned 38 points from their 22 outings thus far.
That is in no small part down to a pleasing run since the turn of the year, having put 10 points on the board in their five outings in 2024 thus far with the only defeat coming away at runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain, after previously putting up dominant home victories over Lorient and Clermont either side of a stalemate with Montpellier.
Aiming to quickly rebound from that setback, Paulo Fonseca's side most recently hosted Le Havre last weekend and made it 10 goals across their last three home games without conceding in a 3-0 victory, as Jonathan David notched up a hat-trick to seal the win and cut the gap to third-placed Nice to just a single point while remaining two points behind second-placed Brest.
Now sitting within touching distance of the Champions League spots thanks to their fine run, albeit with their away form being a slight concern having failed to win any of their last four league games on the road, Lille will now bid to make it back-to-back wins to keep building momentum in their pursuit of a top-three place.
Team News
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Toulouse will remain without winger Zakaria Aboukhlal and defender Denis Genreau on Sunday, as the pair continue spells in the treatment room through injury, although they will welcome wing-back Christian Mawissa back to contention after he served a suspension in the second leg of their Europa League tie against Benfica on Thursday.
Thijs Dallinga is bound to again lead the line, having notched up 12 goals so far this term including seven in 21 Ligue 1 appearances, while Frank Magri will bid to return to the attack from the outset after Aron Donnum and Yann Gboho supported the front man in midweek in their 3-4-3 shape.
Vincent Sierro is a mainstay in midfield with Stijn Spierings and Cristian Casseres Jr fighting to join him, while Moussa Diarra, Logan Costa and Rasmus Nicolaisen will continue in an unaltered back three.
Lille may be unchanged from their 3-0 beating of Le Havre last time out, with Jonathan David bound to again lead the line in their 4-2-3-1 shape having scored all three goals in that game to take his tally to 16 for the season in all competitions and 11 in 22 Ligue 1 appearances.
Yusuf Yazici will bid to return to a supporting trio from the start, however, having contributed 10 goals of his own this term, after settling for a substitute appearance at the weekend with Adam Ounas, Angel Gomes and Remy Cabella preferred behind David.
Elsewhere, Nabil Bentaleb should again join mainstay Benjamin Andre at the base of the midfield, while Leny Yoro and Alexsandro will continue in the middle of a back four.
Toulouse possible starting lineup:
Restes; Diarra, Costa, Nicolaisen; Desler, Spierings, Sierro, Suazo; Magri, Dallinga, Donnum
Lille possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Santos, Yoro, Alexsandro, Ismaily; Andre, Bentaleb; Gomes, Yazici, Cabella; David
We say: Toulouse 1-2 Lille
Toulouse have shown pleasing improvement in Ligue 1 since the turn of the year to improve their survival hopes, but with their visitors enjoying a strong run of their own and boasting more quality, we envisage an away win with the hosts also more fatigued on the back of a tough midweek European tie.
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Sam Varley
