Brest vs Lille prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2024-03-16 12:00.
[p]Sunday’s busy Ligue 1 schedule kicks off at the home of France’s biggest surprise package, Brest, who enter the round sitting pretty in second place and on course for what would be a maiden UEFA Champions League (UCL) qualification. Their grip on the top-three and a place in next season’s UCL group stage was weakened somewhat at Lens last weekend, when a 1-0 defeat ended their 13-game unbeaten league run (W9, D4).[/p]
[p]Manager Éric Roy has turned around Brest’s fortunes in his 51 games in charge, with the club even playing in the second-tier as recently as 2018/19! Now looking to avoid two straight defeats since early November, Roy’s record against Lille doesn’t inspire much confidence that they can do that, as he hasn’t faced any side more often without winning (D2, L4). But Brest’s current home form must give them some hope that Roy could register his first win against the northerners, as they are unbeaten in eight home games (W6, D2), keeping a clean sheet in the last six!  [/p]
[p]Beginning the round just four points behind Brest in fourth, Lille travel here knowing that they must breach that seemingly impregnable Brest backline in order to further their own ambitions of dining at Europe’s top table next season. That gap could have been smaller if they hadn’t dropped points in two of their last three league games (W1, D1, L1), but their ongoing involvement in the Europa Conference League has perhaps disrupted preparations.[/p]
[p]They should count their lucky stars that they remain in contention, as no side has posted fewer victories than Lille’s 11 at this stage of the season whilst occupying a top-four spot since 2015/16 (W11, D9, L5). Back-to-back competitive away wins without reply should spur belief amongst the Lille faithful, although the Stade Francis-Le Blé hasn’t been a particularly happy hunting ground across the previous three away H2Hs since the hosts’ latest promotion (D1, L2). [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Pierre Lees-Melou has proven invaluable to Brest’s European push this season with three goals in his last five appearances, whilst three of his four goals this term were match winners. For Lille, Jonathan David (G14) can only be bettered by Kylian Mbappé in the Ligue 1 scoring charts after hitting an incredible eight goals in his last six appearances. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Only Nice (nine) have kept more home league clean sheets than Brest (eight – 67%) ahead of this round.[/p]