After beating Marseille at the Velodrome, Ligue 1 leaders Lille have a great chance to further escape their title rivals with three points from this match. Valenciennes, on the other hand, are hoping to extend their unbeaten run to seven games although that is easier said than done.

Lille return to winning ways

Lille have been on the constant rise during the last few years and their impressive showings from last term were only a sign of things to come. Having kept the entire squad together, as well as the very talented coach Rudi Garcia, les Dogues continued going strong this season and they have been at the Ligue 1 summit for quite a while. After the busy schedule looked to have taken the wind out of their sails, Rudi Garcia decided to sacrifice team’s Europa League campaign so that his players would be able to fully focus on Ligue 1, and that has already started producing results. Lille cemented the first place in the standings with an impressive victory over Marseille at Velodrome and they now have an excellent chance to go three points clear of the nearest rivals. Having won 14 out of last 18 games at home, les Dogues should be able to continue the good run of results against struggling Valenciennes.

Moussa Sow will be fit to play after shaking off a minor knee injury, while Florent Balmont misses out through suspension.

It’s high time Valenciennes lost

Valenciennes have seen a major uptrend in fortunes ever since talented boss Philippe Montanier took over the reigns and they were one of the surprise packages of last season. However, the club were unable to hold on to their key players over the summer and they sold Siaka Tiene, Johan Audel and Fahid Ben Khalfallah, which left a big gap to fill. VAFC were unable to sign decent replacement for the aforementioned players and it is little wonder they largely struggle this term. The team still have too much quality to go down, but the matches against the top Ligue 1 sides prove they are far away from being able to match the best sides in the league. Valenciennes took advantage of the very easy fixture list to go six games without losing, but everything suggests that high-flying Lille will be too much for them. VAFC have lost five and drawn two of their last seven away games.

Gaetan Bong, Foued Kadir and Guillaume Loriot are out through injury, but Jonathan Lacourt could be back to contention.

Verdict

Lille are brimming with confidence after beating Marseille at the Velodrome and they should have no problems winning this match as well. Valenciennes largely struggle on the travels and they should be happy if they manage to avoid a heavy defeat.

Our prediction: Lille to win with -1.25 Asian handicap

Odds: 2.20 (6/5)

Bookmaker: 188BET