Preview: Lille vs. Brest - prediction, team news, lineups

Ligue 1 leaders Lille will be aiming to win their eighth game in a row across all competitions when they welcome a resurgent Brest to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy for Sunday's top-flight encounter.

The hosts overcame Dijon 1-0 in their opening Coupe de France match of the season in midweek, while Brest also advanced to the next round after beating Rodez.

Match preview

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If there was ever a time for Lille to cement their position atop the Ligue 1 standings, it is now, as Christophe Galtier's men mark their return to the continental stage on Thursday for their Europa League last-32 first leg against Ajax.

Les Dogues are seemingly unstoppable when domestic commitments are their sole concern, but Galtier will remember his side's flailing form when they had to juggle their Europa League group stage alongside league action, so they simply cannot afford to slip up this weekend before taking on Ajax twice later this month.

It is difficult to see Lille's remarkable winning streak ending on Sunday, though, as Galtier's men have won seven in a row across all competitions - keeping clean sheets in six of those matches - and a two-point gap currently separates Lille from second-placed Lyon, who could temporarily rise to the summit if they beat Montpellier HSC on Saturday.

However, Les Dogues were not as dominant as Galtier would have expected against Dijon - even with several fringe players making the starting lineup - as a strike from 19-year-old Aguibou Camara was all that separated the two teams in Wednesday's Coupe de France clash.

Galtier may already have one eye on next week's battle with Ajax on the European stage, but his resilient charges should simply focus on the task at hand against Brest as they aim to win seven in a row in Ligue 1 for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

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Brest supporters would be making a fatal mistake if they were to read too much into their side's winning run, as inconsistency has been the theme for Olivier Dall'Oglio's men this season.

The 12th-placed Pirates had suffered four defeats from five in the month of January, but they have at least started February in stronger form with two wins and a draw from their last three matches - including a hard-earned 2-1 success over Bordeaux last weekend courtesy of goals from Steve Mounie and Romain Faivre.

Mounie followed up his goal against Bordeaux with his seventh goal of the season against Rodez in the Coupe de France, but Brest could only scrape a 2-1 victory over the Ligue 2 outfit to progress to the next stage, and their away form does not make for pleasant reading ahead of their trip to Lille.

Indeed, Les Pirates are at risk of going seven games without a win on the road after losing four and drawing two of their last six, and only the bottom two sides in Nimes and Dijon (both 24) have shipped more goals on unfamiliar territory than Brest (23) this term.

History suggests that there will definitely be a winner and a loser in this tie at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, as Lille and Brest have not played out a draw in Ligue 1 since 1987, and Dall'Oglio's side did manage to edge a five-goal thriller 3-2 in the reverse fixture.

Lille Ligue 1 form: WWWWWW
Lille form (all competitions): WWWWWW

Brest Ligue 1 form: LLLLDW
Brest form (all competitions): LLLDWW

Team News

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Lille's two Turkish forwards in Burak Yilmaz and Yusuf Yazici are nursing calf and foot problems respectively, but Jonathan David has now found his goalscoring touch with five goals from his last five Ligue 1 outings.

Galtier has no other concerns beside his two prolific forwards, and even with Ajax to come in midweek, the Dogues manager should revert to his strongest XI regardless.

Jose Fonte and Zeki Celik should return to the backline, while Timothy Weah and Jonathan Ikone will battle it out to start alongside David up top.

Brest shot-stopper Gautier Larsonneur has been demoted to the bench in recent weeks, and he is expected to stay there following Sebastien Cibois's emergence in between the sticks.

Mounie is pushing for a return to the first XI in the league after two promising showings in the past week, while further changes from the Coupe de France win should see Romain Perraud, Julien Faussurier, Paul Lasne and Haris Belkebla all return.

Lille possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Celik, Fonte, Botman, Reinildo; Ikone, Andre, Sanches, Bamba; David, Weah

Brest possible starting lineup:
Cibois; Faussurier, Herelle, Chardonnet, Perraud; Lasne, Lucas, Belkebla; Honorat, Cardona, Faivre

We say: Lille 2-1 Brest

Brest need no helping hand when it comes to finding the back of the net, but stopping the goals from going in at the other end has been their downfall all season. The upcoming return of the Europa League may be playing on Lille's minds a little bit, but the league leaders should still be too strong for a topsy-turvy Brest, so we can only predict a home win in this match.