Lorient vs Lille prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-08-26 15:05.
Three months after registering their best finish to a Ligue 1 season since 2013/14, an ambitious Lorient commenced their new campaign with low-scoring draws against two of the nine clubs to finish above them last time around. They’ll now face a third such side, and one small step on their outstanding journey of overachievement last season was a 2-1 home win against upcoming opponents Lille.
Following the sales of regular starters Terem Moffi, Enzo Le Fée and Ibrahima Koné during the off-season, manager Régis Le Bris has called for patience as the club rebuilds. He conceded that Lorient were “dominated” by Nice at home last round and perhaps fortunate to escape with a draw, though their league record of W3, D3, L2 as home outsiders since the start of last season further confirms just how difficult they can be to conquer.
Lille also recorded a 1-1 draw with Nice in the opening week of the competition, although they were the visitors on that occasion. They took one step closer to the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage with a 2-1 win at home to Croatia’s HNK Rijeka during the week, fielding an almost identical starting lineup to the one that defeated Nantes 2-0 last weekend.
Their manager Paulo Fonseca believes Lille deserve to be in European action this season, but he was particularly unhappy with their defending and concentration levels against Rijeka, which could be of concern with this the first of two away trips in five days. Whereas Lille are undefeated at home in 20 competitive matches, on the road they’ve tasted victory just once from their last nine league outings (D5, L3), even despite starting as favourites six times (W1, D3, L2) in that period.
Players to watch: Lorient defender Théo Le Bris, the nephew of his manager, was an unlikely match-winner in this corresponding fixture of last season. Lille forward Jonathan David has scored Lille’s first goal 15 times in all competitions since the start of last season, which includes not only his most recent outing but this corresponding fixture from 2022/23.
Hot stat: The last 17 H2Hs all produced a victor (Lorient W6, Lille W11), 70% of which were won by the home side of the day.