Sunday afternoon will witness a meeting of two former French champions, as Montpellier HSC welcome Champions League-chasing Lille to Stade de la Mosson-Mondial for a Ligue 1 encounter.
La Paillade are yet to collect any league points since returning from the winter break, while Les Dogues were able to ease past basement dwellers Lorient last time out in this competition.
Match preview
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Since returning to competitive action following the two-week winter break, Montpellier have won back-to-back matches in Coupe de France against Amiens and Feignies Aulnoye to advance into the last 16, but La Pallaide were not as successful on the road in Ligue 1 against Brest a fortnight ago.
After a goalless first half at Stade Francis-Le Ble, Eric Roy's men started to turn the screw and managed to secure their rewards, with Hugo Magnetti and Jeremy Le Douaron both breaching the net of Benjamin Lecomte to condemn the visitors to their seventh league defeat of the term.
Following a steady 12th-placed finish in the French top flight last season, Michel Der Zakarian's side find themselves in an identical position after 18 matches of the current term, sitting two points ahead of 16th-placed Lyon and a sizeable 11 points behind Will Still's Reims in sixth.
Key to La Paillade securing their first-tier status for another campaign will be the goalscoring antics of Nigerian striker Akor Adams, who has bagged seven goals in 18 Ligue 1 appearances since making the summer switch from Norwegian outfit Lillestrom, with the 23-year-old adapting admirably to a top European division.
Montpellier's record in front of their own supporters has been peculiar so far this term, with Sunday's hosts winning one, drawing six and losing just two of their nine Ligue 1 home matches to date - form which is keeping them from moving away from the highly-competitive scrap for survival.
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Making the net ripple on 16 occasions and conceding zero times since returning from the winter hiatus, Europe-chasing Lille have enjoyed an ideal start to 2024 which included maximum points last time out in Ligue 1 against a Lorient side who look destined for the drop.
Jonathan David put Les Dogues ahead in the first half against Les Merlus, and although Paulo Fonseca's men had to wait until added-on time to make sure of the points courtesy of strikes from Remy Cabella and Edon Zhegrova, the hosts were comfortable throughout the duration of the match, with Lucas Chevalier not facing a shot on target.
Having lost just once in their last 19 games across all competitions, Lille have progressed into the last 16 of both the Europa Conference League and Coupe de France while maintaining a respectable standing in the Ligue 1 table, sitting in fifth, only three points behind third-placed Brest.
Les Dogues will have their away form to blame if they are unable to seal a spot in the Champions League for next season, with Fonseca's side winning just two of their nine league outings so far, with their most-recent league victory on the road arriving against crisis-hit Lyon on November 26.
Lille are unbeaten in their last 11 matches against Montpellier - winning nine of those contests - and supporters of La Paillade have to cast their minds back to November 2017 for the last time their side got one over Sunday's visitors, when goals from Jerome Roussillon, Giovanni Sio and Casimir Ninga secured a comfortable 3-0 success.
Team News
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Montpellier are fighting to keep hold of a key defensive player this January, with 21-year-old Maxime Esteve reportedly attracting interest from Premier League club Burnley.
The centre-back should start alongside Christopher Jullien and Becir Omeragic on Sunday, though, with the back three impressing in the 2-1 win over Amiens on January 6.
La Paillade have a number of players away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, including Falaye Sacko, Issiaga Sylla and Kiki Kouyate.
Lille will be without the services of former Wolverhampton Wanderers attacker Ivan Cavaleiro this weekend, with the Angolan recovering from a groin injury sustained in December.
Bafode Diakite had started nine Ligue 1 matches before his untimely shoulder injury last month - the right-back is scheduled to return at the end of February.
Les Dogues are currently without the presence of Nabil Bentaleb, with the midfielder part of an Algeria squad who are gunning for their third AFCON success.
Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:
Lecomte; Hefti, Omeragic, Jullien, Esteve, Gueguin; Yeboah, Chotard, Savanier; Fayad, Adams
Lille possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Santos, Yoro, Ribiero, Ismaily; Andre, Gomes; Zhegrova, Yazici, Gudmundsson; David
We say: Montpellier HSC 1-1 Lille
Montpellier have endured a mixed start to 2024, but we believe that Sunday's hosts are very capable of securing a result against Lille in this one.
Les Dogues are unbeaten so far in the new calendar year, and we feel that run will continue at Stade de la Mosson-Mondial on Sunday afternoon.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
