Racing Colombes 92 and Lille are back in action in the Coupe de France when they go head to head at the Stade Walter Luzi for a place in the round of 16 on Sunday.
While the hosts have put together a fine run of form leading up to the game, they will need to be at their best against the Ligue 1 side who put 12 goals past Golden Lion in their cup curtain-raiser.
Match preview
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Racing Colombes made it four wins from four across in competitions last Saturday when they cruised to a 2-0 victory over Guingamp II at the Stade Centre Formation in the Nacional 2.
French midfielder Ramiz Haratake single-handedly put the home side to the sword as he netted a first-half brace to condemn them to a third defeat on the bounce.
Guillaume Norbert's men have now gone six consecutive games without defeat across all competitions, claiming five wins and one draw since a 1-0 defeat to Aubervilliers on November 5.
Having kicked off their Coupe de France campaign with a 2-1 victory over Laon on November 19, Racing cruised to a 3-1 victory over Villers Houlgate second round, before claiming a 2-1 victory over Chambly in their last-16 clash on January 5.
While Les Ciels et Blancs will look to pick up a fifth win on the bounce and cause an upset on Sunday, they will need to bring their A-game against a Lille side who hammered Golden Lion 12-0 in their cup opener on January 7.
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Canadian forward Jonathan David grabbed the headlines against Golden Lion as he scored three goals and set up three more at the Stade Pierre Mauroy to hand Lille an empathetic round-of-64 victory.
Paulo Fonseca's side turned in another performance of the highest quality last Sunday when they cruised to a 3-0 win over Lorient in their first Ligue 1 outing since the turn of the year.
David continued his fine form in front of goal as he opened the scoring with a 37th-minute strike before Remy Cabello and Edon Zhegrova scored second-half goals to put the result beyond reach.
Off the back of an impressive first half of the season, Lille have placed themselves well on course to secure European football as they sit fifth in the Ligue 1 table, four points behind second-placed Nice.
Les Dogues now turn their attention to the Coupe de France, where they have clinched the title on six ocasion, most recently in 2011, when they claimed a 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the final.
Lille head into the weekend unbeaten in 17 of their last 18 matches across all competitions — claiming 10 wins and seven draws — with a 2-1 defeat to Strasbourg in their final outing of 2023 being the exception.
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Team News
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Harakate has been on song for Racing in recent weeks and the French striker, who scored a brace in last week's victory over Guingamp should spearhead the hosts' attack once again.
He should be joined in Les Ciels et Blancs attack by former Dijon striker Erwan Belhadji and 27-year-old Marvin Emmanuel, who was involved in both goals in the last-64 clash against Chambly.
At the opposite end of the pitch, we should see a back four of Nicolas Bernardino, Mohammed Sangare, Ababacar Paye and Maxime Da Viega Costa shielding Guadeloupe goalkeeper Rubens Adelaide between the sticks.
Meanwhile, Lille will be without the duo of Adam Ounas and Nabil Bentaleb, who are currently away with the Algerian national team at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations.
On the injury front, Fonseca will be unable to call upon the services of Bafode Diakite and former Fulham man Ivan Cavaleiro, who are currently recuperating from shoulder and groin injuries respectively.
With his strike against Lorient, David now has 11 goal involvements in his last nine matches for club and country, and the Canadian striker will certainly be one to keep an eye on.
Racing Colombes 92 possible starting lineup:
Adelaide; Bernardino, Sangare, Paye, Costa; Yao, Jacqueray, Camara; Belhadji, Emmanuel, Harakate
Lille possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Santos, Yoro, Ribeiro, Ismaily; Andre, Gomes; Zhegrova, Yazici, Gudmundsson; David
We say: Racing Colombes 92 0-5 Lille
Racing Club have enjoyed a fine cup run so far but now face their toughest test yet in a significantly superior and more experienced Lille side. Fonseca's men have flown out of the blocks this season and we see them claiming a comfortable victory in this one.
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Top tip
Joshua Ojele
