Montpellier vs Lille Prediction & Tips
Montpellier’s ambitions to return to Europe after a decade were dealt a serious blow by a shock 3-1 loss at St-Étienne, where they conceded three goals in the last ten minutes to leave them three points off fifth place, instead of with the same amount. It is the third time they have lost to teams from the bottom half of the table, leaving many to question whether the team deserves to play in Europe.
They face Lille, another team from the bottom half of the table, and hope not to repeat the result of the first round match (P 2-1) and that loss in St-Étienne, where Montpellier failed to win despite scoring before half-time – something the team has done seven times in this Ligue 1. Despite this, and given that the team that was leading at half-time did so at the end in seven of Montpellier’s last 10 league games, it can be reached to the conclusion that whoever manages to go to the middle part with an advantage has many options to achieve the three points.
PSG sentenced the defending champion to chain defeats, for the first time since September 2021, on the last day (P 1-5), which threatens to leave him out of the fight for European places. Despite being lower in the table (11th), Lille are arguably favorites in this match, something they have not dealt with well away from home (W2, D2, L3).
Improving those records would allow critics to be silenced, especially those who are alarmed by the team’s worst league performance in the last four seasons. Coach Jocelyn Gourvennec also has personal accounts to settle, having lost in four of his last five visits to Montpellier (E1) as coach, as well as failing to win as a player for the home team in the five matches in which he was headline (E2, P3).
Players to watch: Elye Wahi is still on a roll and last weekend opened the scoring for Montpellier for the fourth time in seven games. Meanwhile, Jonathan David is the only Lille player to have scored in more than one of his side’s last eight league games away from home – including scoring the team’s first goal on three occasions.
Featured fact: Montpellier have gone 24 Ligue 1 games in a row without drawing 0-0, while Lille have only done so once in all that time.
Montpellier – Lille FREE TIPS
BTS/YES @ 2.25
