Ligue 1 | Gameweek 13

Dec 1, 2024 at 2pm UK

Stade de la Mosson

Montpelliervs.Lille

Match preview

Montpellier are in a pretty bad spot this season. They've only won two of their last 14 Ligue 1 games, with 10 losses and two draws on the other end.

After a 5-0 defeat at home to Marseille in October, Montpellier sacked manager Michel Der Zakarian. The team was in last place with just one win from their opening eight matches.

Gasset had announced his retirement last season when he left Marseille, but he decided to come back to the sport to coach Montpellier, the club he spent most of his playing career with and where he started his managerial career.

Gasset was appointed on 22 October and has overseen four matches so far, with one win and three defeats. It's not yet clear whether he can save the club from relegation this season.

In their last game, Montpellier lost 1-0 to 13th-placed Saint-Étienne. The team had 68% possession and took 11 shots.

Gasset's side will be disappointed to have lost the potential 'six-pointer' to Benjamin Bouchouari's 47th-minute strike, but fans can take some confidence from the fact they were competitive and may have hope the team can make up the four points needed to catch 15th-placed Rennes, who are the first club outside of the relegation spots.

On the other hand, Genesio's Lille are currently in the Champions League playoff spot in Ligue 1 and just one point away from Marseille, who are in one of the division's automatic qualification places.

Lille are also 12th in Europe's top club competition, just one point above giants Bayern Munich in the playoff spots for the next round.

Les Dogues have been on a winning streak, unbeaten in their last 12 matches across all competitions. They've drawn five and won seven, including an impressive 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in front of a home crowd and a fine 3-1 away win against Diego Simeone's Atlético Madrid.

In their last game, Lille beat Bologna 2-1 in Europe thanks to two goals from Ngal'ayel Mukau, who was surprisingly the top scorer. They also won 1-0 against Rennes on 24 November, in a close match where both teams had few chances to score.

It's worth noting that Lille have actually scored the fewest goals of the top five teams in France. They've only won one game this season by a margin of more than two goals.

Given all this, it seems likely that Les Dogues will be looking to boost their goal tally for the season by making the most of their match against Montpellier's leaky defence.

Recent Performance

Montpellier HSC Ligue 1 form:LLLLWL

Lille Ligue 1 form:WDWDDW

Lille form (all competitions):WDDDWW

Team News

Montpellier will be looking to captain and talismanic attacking midfielder Teji Savanier for inspiration this season, but he is a doubt for this weekend's match along with Mousa Al-Taamari.

In other news, centre-backs Boubakar Kouyate and Christopher Julien won't be playing, and neither will Akor Adams, Khalil Fayad or Othmane Maamma.

Lille are also expected to be without a number of high-profile players, including Angel Gomes, Samuel Umtiti and Nabil Bentaleb.

Les Dogues will also be without Ethan Mbappe and there's some doubt over whether Andre Gomes will be fit for Sunday's game.

Possible starting lineup

Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:

Lecomte; Mbiayi, Maksimovic, Sagnan, Sylla; Nzingoula, Chotard, Ferri; Nordin, Khazri, Coulibaly

Lille possible starting lineup:

Chevalier; Meunier, Diakite, Ribeiro, Ismaily; Andre, Bouaddi, Cabella; Sahraoui, David, Zhegrova