Lille are looking to strengthen their hold at the top of the French Ligue 1 table when they host Montpellier at the Stade Pierre Mauroy. They are coming off back-to-back wins in the league and should have the edge over their inconsistent visitors.
Lille head into Friday’s match off the back of a 2-0 victory against Metz in their previous Ligue 1 fixture. Second half goals from Burak Yilmaz and Mehmet Celik were enough to earn them a comfortable win.
Christophe Galtier’s men are looking confident at the moment having also knocked off champions PSG prior to the win at Metz. They now sit three points clear at the top of the standings with six matches to go.
One source of worry for Lille is their surprisingly poor defensive record at home, where they have kept just one clean sheet in their last four matches across all competitions. However, with the likes of Burak Yilmaz and Jonathan Bamba, they often have that extra bit of quality in attack to give them the edge over most teams.
Montpellier are coming off a thrilling 3-3 draw against Olympique Marseille last time out in Ligue 1. They took an early lead through Andy Delort but soon found themselves behind before a second half brace from Gaetan Laborde ensured they claimed a share of the spoils.
Michel Der Zakarian’s men still hold slim hopes of securing a Europa League spot as they sit eight points behind fifth place Lille. However, their recent form has been troubling with just one win in their last six Ligue 1 matches.
The problem for Montpellier is their inability to keep things tight at the back with just one clean sheet in their last 20 Ligue 1 matches.
How the bookies view it
Lille are overwhelming favourites among the bookies with betway offering 13/20 for a home win. A victory for Montpellier is valued at 19/4 by bet365 while a draw is set at odds of 31/10 by Vbet.
Given Lille’s fine form in recent weeks, I am backing a home win in this one.
Head to head
Lille have 16 wins from 36 previous matches while Montpellier have been victorious 12 times. There have been eight draws between both teams while Christophe Galtier’s men triumphed 3-2 in the reverse fixture back in December.
Players to watch
With top scorer Jonathan David out injured Burak Yilmaz will be the one to watch for Lille on Friday. The Turkish striker netted his 10th goal of the season last time out and is priced at 6/5 by Paddy Power to score anytime.
As always Montpellier will look to the twin attacking threats of Andy Delort and Gaetan Laborde with both men on target in their last appearance. Paddy Power has Delort at 10/3 to score anytime while Laborde is priced at 9/2 by betfair in the same market.
Anything else catch the eye
There was over 4.5 goals in the reverse fixture and a similar outcome is valued at 7/1 by BetVictor. Over 3.5 goals is set at odds of 13/5 by Paddy Power while Sport Nation is offering evens for over 2.5 goals.
With Lille and Montpellier boasting quality in attack and often shaky at the back, there are likely to be goals for both teams at 11/10 with Sport Nation. There are also likely to be goals in both halves at 17/20 with William Hill while a Lille win and over 2.5 goals is worth a punt at 13/8 with Paddy Power.
This French Ligue 1 match between Lille and Montpellier will be played on Apr 16, 2021 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Lille vs Montpellier prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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