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Preview: Lille hoping to extend impressive unbeaten run against Brest
Friday evening will see two of Ligue 1's Champions League starlets go head to head in the league as fourth-placed LOSC host eleventh-placed Brest at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Lille were held by bottom-placed Montpellier last weekend (2-2). Meanwhile Brest managed to get back to winning ways over Strasbourg (2-0), stemming a run of three defeats in a row for Les Pirates after suffering their first defeat in the Champions League last week to Barcelona.
With Monaco facing Toulouse on Saturday, Lille could move up to third on goal difference on Friday evening to consolidate their bid for the Champions League spots. What's more, is that Les Dogues are currently unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions, which is the best of any team in the top flight currently.
Bruno Génésio's side have done well to balance fighting on two fronts so far this season, with Lille's younger players having proved useful in both competitions. Brest have struggled to find that balance. Despite a sensational run in the Champions League, Les Pirates have recently struggled domestically, losing three in a row before their win against Strasbourg last weekend.
Bruno Génésio: "There's a collective spirit, an extraordinary amount of solidarity."
Bruno Génésio took the chance to step back and look at Lille's successes this season ahead of the match against Brest this weekend with Europe 1. "The first thing is to believe that these wins are possible, and I think that's been a great strength for my staff and for me,” recalled the Lille coach, now able to take a step back and explain the Dogues' past successes. "That's the basis of our victories, because very few people, if anyone, could have imagined that we'd beat Real (1-0) and win at Atlético (1-3)."
“There's a culture of winning here, in this club which, with fewer resources than our competitors, has been French champion and regularly qualifies for the European Cup. That's no mean feat,” added Genesio." Within my group of players, there's an extraordinary collective spirit of solidarity and mutual support. We've had a lot of headwinds since the start of the season, and that underlines the mental strength of this group. We've suffered a lot together and we've achieved some extraordinary things."
Team News and predicted XIs
Mitchell Bakker will be unavailable for Lille after he was sent off in the injury-time chaos at Stade de la Mosson against Montpellier last weekend. Angel Gomes is another big absentee for Les Dogues, as the Englishman continues his recovery from a calf injury. Meanwhile, Tiago Santos, Samuel Umtiti, Nabil Bentaleb and Ethan Mbappé remain out of action for the foreseeable future.
Jonas Martin had to pull out of Brest's clash with Strasbourg last weekend, as he'll join Pierre Lees-Melou, Soumaila Coulibaly and Bradley Locko on the list of absentees for Les Pirates.
Lille possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Meunier, Diakite, Alexsandro, Gudmundsson; Andre, Bouaddi; Zhegrova, Mukau, Cabella; David.
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Le Cardinal, Haidara; Camara, Fernandes, Magnetti; Del Castillo, Ajorque, Sima.
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