Lille vs Auxerre prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2022-08-06 13:00.
It’s fair to say things didn’t go to plan for Lille last season who followed up their historic 2020/21 Ligue 1 title success with an underwhelming tenth-place finish. Manager Paulo Fonseca was appointed this summer to get the club competing at the top end of the table again, and he was quick to affirm his intention to build an “ambitious team” which “plays attractive football”.
However, his goal hasn’t been helped by losing a number of key players, with Sven Botman having already gone to Newcastle, plus Renato Sanches and Amadou Onana also being tipped to head through the Lille exit door. Fonseca will hope he can put those distractions to one side and start his tenure on a high, and might therefore be comforted by Lille’s record of five straight home victories against newly promoted sides.
Auxerre’s joy of securing a return to Ligue 1 after a ten-year absence was ruined by a violent pitch invasion from St-Etienne fans following May’s relegation play-off. They’re sure to have had time to savour their achievement since, but the hard work of staying in the division starts now and here they’ll be aiming to secure just a second opening day Ligue 1 win from 11 attempts (D3, L6).
The visitors actually haven’t tasted defeat on the road in the league since November (W7, D4 – excluding play-offs), so their confidence should be high. However, manager Jean-Marc Furlan has only been able to bolster his squad with a handful of free transfers, which could see them come unstuck here against the step up in quality.
Players to watch: New Lille signing Mohamed Bayo netted 14 Ligue 1 goals for Clermont in the last campaign, with 11 of those coming after half-time. Last season, Auxerre’s Charbonnier Gaëtan also bagged 11 of his 17 Ligue 2 goals during the second half.
Hot stat: Since the start of this century, Lille have lost only four of their 22 Ligue 1 season openers (W9, D9).