Montpellier – Lille : Preview & Prediction
Montpellier and Lille meet at the Stade de la Mosson in a match of the 14th round of Ligue 1. The history of direct matches played at this stadium favors the visiting team, who in the last 5 matches won 3, drew 1 and lost 1. Indeed, in the last confrontation at this stage, in a match for Ligue 1 on 29-04-2017, Lille only managed to win, by (0-3). The goals of the match were scored by N. de Préville (13 ‘), Xeka (56’) and M. Terrier (75 ‘) for Lille. The home / away condition deserves special attention, since although this is a match between the 8th and 19th of the overall standings, this is in fact a confrontation between the 14th placed in home games and the 17th as a visitor.
The home team is currently in 8th place with 17 points earned after 4 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses. In the penultimate match, they tied at home to Amiens by (1-1). In the last match, tied off to Lyon by (0-0). This is a team little affected by the house factor, since it has achieved similar results at home and abroad. For the championship, Montpellier won 9 points in 21 chances, after 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats in the last 7 games he played in his stadium. In his home matches there is a tendency towards few goals, since in 28 of the last 44 that disputed there were less than 3 goals. In 13 games in the competition, he never managed to turn the scoring in the 6 games in which he suffered the first goal.
Montpellier are having a reasonable campaign in the French Championship, but have not won for three rounds and need to seek recovery to fight back at the top of the standings. The team is characterized by a very low efficiency attack that has scored only 9 goals and is the second worst of the national, but the defense, on the other hand, has suffered only 8 goals and is the least leaked, demonstrating the huge imbalance between the offensive and defensive. Playing at home, as his match on Saturday, Montpellier have the sixth worst Ligue 1 campaign, won only 1 of the last 6 games against their fans and it is worth mentioning that in their 7 games as the principal, they occurred at most 2 goals on the scoreboard. For the game against Lille, the trainer Der Zakarian has the return of midfielder Skhiri and defender Congré, since both were suspended in the last round.
After 3 wins, 3 draws and 7 losses, the visiting team is in 19th place, having won 12 points. In the last match, he lost with Amiens away (3-0), having won 3-1 at home against Saint Étienne in the previous match. This is a team affected by the home factor, having won 4 points as a visitor and 8 points in their stadium, with 8 goals scored and 10 goals conceded at home, against 4 goals scored and 9 suffered as a visitor. In the league, Lille won 4 points in 18 chances, after 1 win, 1 draw and 4 losses in the last 6 games he played as a visitor. Defensive solidity has not been his strong point, having conceded goals in 8 of the last 10 games for this competition. This is a team that scored few times first and they only managed to open the scoring in 3 of their last 13 matches in Ligue 1, of those 3 reached the break in advantage in 1 and won in the late 90 ‘in all. In 13 games in this competition, he never managed to come back on the scoreboard in the 9 games in which he conceded the first goal. In the last 7 away games for all competitions there has been 1 period that stands out: suffered 4 of his 9 goals between the minutes (76’-90 ‘).
Lille have been disastrous in the French Championship, but they have won 2 of their last 3 matches and are looking for another positive result to try to get away from the last standings. The team has presented problems in both the offensive and defensive systems, having scored only 12 goals, being the fifth worst attack of the national, and conceded 19 goals, having the seventh defender more leaked, demonstrating that a better performance of the 2 sectors is needed to get out of this uncomfortable situation in which he is. Playing at home as their match on Saturday, Lille have the fourth worst Ligue 1 campaign that did not score goals in 3 of the last 4 games away from their domains. For the confrontation against Montpellier, coach Marcelo Bielsa has the return of striker Benzia, but will not be able to count on midfielder Amadou due to suspension.
Montpellier – Lille : Betting Tips
Montpellier – Win Odds: 2.25
Both teams to score / YES – Odds: 1.70
Over 2.5 Goals – Odds: 1.70
