Champions League-chasing Lille will look to ride the wave of last weekend's triumph as they welcome Auxerre to Stade Pierre-Mauroy for round 30 of Ligue 1.
Bruno Genesio's men edged past Toulouse with a 2-1 win on their travels last time out, a result that lifted them two places in the standings, while Auxerre did the Mastiffs no favours with their loss to Lyon.
Match preview
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An upward trend, no doubt, but Lille's victory in Toulouse was only enough to hoist them as far as fifth, with their 50 points putting them just one behind fourth-placed Lyon, who also claimed maximum points in their own clash with Auxerre.
The Mastiffs will also be keen to grab their own piece of the cake this weekend by claiming victory over AJA, and they have every reason to feel upbeat, having dismantled them 4-1 the last time both sides met at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
However, Genesio's side will need to buck a recurring trend, having only managed back-to-back league wins once in 2025 — doing so against Rennes and Monaco in February — with a six-match run of alternating defeats and victories since then.
Still, Lille can draw from their strong form at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, where they have strung together three straight victories in Ligue 1.
That run brings their season tally at the ground in the top flight to nine wins, three draws and two defeats, with 30 points accrued, placing them as the third-best home side in the division.
The Mastiffs have found the net 25 times across those 14 matches in front of their fans, while they have scored in each of their last 39 top-flight home outings, with their 78 goals during that run making it the longest active streak across the top five European leagues.
A win here could see LOSC climb as high as third, though anything short of victory might plunge them as low as seventh if both Strasbourg and Nice prevail in their respective contests, with the former level on points and the latter just two points adrift in a gripping race for Europe.
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Sitting 10th with 38 points, Auxerre enter this encounter with little on the line, as they remain 11 points clear of the relegation playoff spot and 12 adrift of the European places with five matches to play.
However, Christophe Pelissier's side will aim to inch closer to top-flight safety and stretch their stay for another season, having made their return to the elite tier at the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
AJA will also draw confidence from their recent head-to-head record against Lille, having held them to back-to-back draws, including the goalless result in the reverse fixture.
Pelissier's men will also be keen to avoid consecutive league defeats for the first time since their four-match losing streak between late August and late September, following last weekend's 3-1 setback against Lyon.
The newly promoted side have been a tricky customer on the road lately, winning two of their last four away games in Ligue 1, remaining unbeaten throughout that run and claiming victory at Rennes on their most recent travels.
Team News
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Given the win at Toulouse, Genesio is unlikely to tinker with the side that started that encounter.
Samuel Umtiti, Tiago Santos and Edon Zhegrova remain unavailable as they continue their respective injury recoveries.
Jonathan David will be aiming to rediscover his scoring boots this weekend, having now gone four league games without a goal.
As for Auxerre, the likes of Lasso Coulibaly, Hamed Traore, Gabriel Osho and Elisha Owusu are all sidelined due to injury.
Kevin Danois was forced off in the previous game and is unlikely to feature, with Rudy Matondo, who came on in his place, expected to slot into the midfield.
Lille possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Ismaily, Ribeiro, Diakite, Mandi; Gomes, Andre; Fernandez-Pardo, Haraldsson, Bakker; David
Auxerre possible starting lineup:
Leon; Mensah, Akpa, Jubal, Diomande, Hoever; Onaiwu, Diousse, Matondo, Perrin; Sinayoko
We say: Lille 2-0 Auxerre
Auxerre's impressive form on the road makes this a tricky fixture for Lille, but the hosts are also strong at home and should have enough to edge it.
While the Mastiffs boast a solid scoring record on their own turf, Auxerre have kept clean sheets in two of their last four away games, suggesting this could be a relatively low-scoring affair.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adeyeye Oluwapelumi
