Lille vs. Saint Etienne: Preview and betting tips

Lille will have a dress rehearsal before the Champions League rematch on Friday, when they welcome Saint-Étienne at home. The paper favourite is in decent form, but even the visitors have picked up points in February.

Lille didn’t put their heads down after losing in the Champions League and have won twice in a row in the league. They are seventh in the table, but Ligue 1 is so even this season that they are only seven points behind second place. They are four points clear of the top four.

It looked bad with Saint-Étienne for a long time, but they have won three times out of the last five rounds to get out of last place. They are currently seventeenth, with a one-point cushion for the barrage position.

The mainstay of the home team is young Canadian Jonathan David, author of seventeen goals through all competitions. Turkish international and top striker Burak Yilmaz boasts six goals and five assists.

Guest captain and Tunisian international Wahbi Khazri has netted nine times and assisted once. Twenty-three year old winger Arnaud Nordin opened the net four times and added five goal assists.

Lille’s defense has started to work, keeping a clean sheet in four of their last five games, with only Chelsea asserting themselves against them in a 2-0 win.

Saint-Étienne have been on a roll again, scoring in the last five rounds, two goals in two and three in one. It has also scored against PSG.

Given the good form of the Lille defence, I think they will win.