Before the season started not too many people expected to see both Saint Etienne and Lille so high in the league standings, but the reality is this will be the clash between third-placed and fourth-placed team in the Ligue 1 table.

Saint Etienne produced quite a coup to finish the previous league campaign in fifth place, while also winning Coupe de la Ligue.

Despite seeing key players Aubameyang and Guilavogui leave in the summer, les Verts continued with impressive performances, as the early exit from Europe proved to be a blessing in disguise.

It allowed Christophe Galtier and his men to fully focus on domestic competitions, which in turn saw the team climb to fourth in the overall standings.

The good run in the league was marred by defeats in both domestic cups, but Saint Etienne could make a big step towards a top 5 finish by beating Lille at home on Friday evening.

Having won last three matches on home soil without conceding a single goal, les Verts are 2.45 (29/20) favourites to claim maximum points.

Kurt Zouma continues to serve a ten-match ban, while Romain Hamouma and Francois Clerc are both injury doubts.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Ruffier – Brison, Sall, Perrin, Ghoulam – Lemoine, Clement – Hamouma, Corgnet, Gradel – Erding.

Having narrowly missed out on European qualification last term, Lille aim to make things right this season and they have so far done brilliantly to cement the third place in the standings.

Rock-solid defence has been one of the main reasons behind some impressive results, with les Dogues conceding mere 10 goals in 20 league outings.

Their run of 11 straight clean sheets ended at the beginning of Decmber and it is important to note they have now conceding in five consecutive fixtures.

And while home defeat to Reims was a seen as a disappointing result, the fact Lille are still six points clear of fourth-placed Saint Etienne can give the players plenty of reason for optimism ahead of the clash at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

Taking also into account that les Dogues are scoring goals for fun at the moment, both teams to score bet needs to be considered at 2.10 (11/10).

Franck Beria is the only unavailable player at the moment, with Marko Basa expected to start despite suffering from fever over the past few days.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-1-2): Enyeama – Sidibe, Kjaer, Basa, Souare – Balmont, Mavuba, Gueye – Martin – Kalou, Roux.