Lille will take on Real Madrid on Wednesday, 2 October in what will be the French club's first home Champions League match of the season.
Lille are already under an element of pressure after losing their opening match of the competition against Sporting Lisbon but a win shouldn't be regarded as imperative.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, are the undisputed kings of this competition and got off to the perfect start, defeating Stuttgart 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
How the bookies view it: Los Blancos go in as favourites
Real Madrid usually find a way to win matches in the Champions League and they are the favourites to take three points with them back to Spain. Betfred have priced an away win at 4/9 while a victory for Lille has been priced as long as 9/2. The draw, which would get the hosts off the mark in the Champions League, has been priced at 16/5.
Recent head-to-head: A first-ever meeting
Incredibly, this will be the first time in history that Real Madrid have ever faced Lille which makes it a night to saviour for fans of the French club. Real Madrid's record against French clubs in general is good with 19 wins from 34 matches so they will feel confident ahead of the trip. Lille have only won three times in 15 attempts against Spanish opposition.
Players to watch: A ghost of the past
Lille thought they had seen the last of Kylian Mbappe when the mercurial forward left PSG in the summer to join Real Madrid. Mbappe was a constant thorn in the Lille side throughout his tenure in Ligue 1, scoring 11 goals and providing seven assists in 14 appearances against them for Monaco and PSG.
Therefore, there would have been a sigh of relief when it was believed that the Frenchman would be injured for this one but Real Madrid have sprung a surprise by naming him in their travelling squad. If he wasn't going to play, there would be little point in him travelling to France so the assumption is that he will now line up to terrorise Lille once again.
Luckily for Lille, they have a forward in Jonathan David who is in scintillating form. The Canadian has netted eight times in all competitions this season and scored a hat-trick at the weekend in preparation for this fixture. Lille's best hope on Wednesday night could be to fight fire with fire and David will be a handful.
Predicted line-ups
Although Mbappe is in the squad to face Lille, several other big names are missing including Thibaut Courtois who picked up a muscle injury in the Madrid derby at the weekend. Lille are missing four players for this one including former Barcelona man, Samuel Umtiti.
Lille: Chevalier – Santos, Diakite, Alexsandro, Gudmundsson – Andre, Gomes, Angel – Zhegrova, David, Sahraoui
Real Madrid: Lunin – Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy – Tchouameni, Bellingham, Valverde – Mbappe, Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior
Anything else catch the eye?
Lille's last two matches have produced nine goals combined while three of Real Madrid's last four outings have all produced more than two goals. Backing goals to be scored when Los Blancos are involved is always a good idea and over 2.5 goals has been priced at 4/6 by Betfred.
This UEFA Champions League match between Lille and Real Madrid will be played on Oct 2, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Lille vs Real Madrid prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
