Prematch: Auxerre vs Lille
Lille hosts an away trip for AJ Auxerre, looking for four consecutive wins to stay unbeaten on its travels.
Published: April 21, 2023 05:47
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After taking down Yellow House last weekend, AJA are back out for their 32nd league appearance of the season against Les Dogues looking to extend their run of victories to four wins in succession. Kickoff between AJ Auxerre and LOSC Lille begins at 16:00 (GMT+1) on Saturday April 22 at Stade de l’Abbe-Deschamps.
Auxerre Secure Third Consecutive Win, Move Out of Relegation Zone
Auxerre now have won three consecutive matches after defeating Nantes 2-1 last weekend at home. Jubal (5′ P.] and Nuno da Costa [43′] scored early first-half goals that helped Auxerre secure the three point haul against Yellow House. Over the last month or two, Auxerre have slowly managed to move out of relegation zone and now sit 18th with 32 points after 8W, 8D and 15L games. Meanwhile AJA are three points above relegation with their bottom four set for drop. Home side has not lost in five L1 home matches [3W, 2D, 0L], although they have won 30 L1 matches against Lille [30W, 14D, 15L]. Unfortunately they remain without victory in any of their last five top-flight encounters against Les Dogues (0W, 2D, 3L]. Recently promoted side has only triumphed once against Lille in their last seven matches across all competitions – an unimpressive tally that includes one victory, two draws, and four defeats [1W, 2D, 4L]. Christophe Pelissier is not expected to alter the 3–4-2–1 system used against Yellow House last weekend, with Nuno da Costa expected to lead their attack once more. Unfortunately for them though, Akim Zedadka will miss out due to being suspended following receiving a yellow card suspension.
Lille on the Verge of History: Aiming for Back-to-Back Wins Against Auxerre and a Top-Four Finish
Lille returned to form last weekend, defeating Montpellier 2-1 for 55 points after 16 wins, 7 draws and 8 losses prior to this fixture against Auxerre. Lille are currently six points adrift of Monaco [61 points], hoping to close in this weekend and secure a top-four position come the end of the season. They recorded a 4-1 win against Auxerre in their earlier meeting and could make history again this time by picking up both league wins over Auxerre. On Saturday, Paulo Fonseca should start in attack with Jonathan David – the club’s top scorer with 20 goals – leading his attack with four and three players to form a four-two-three-one formation. Jonathan David represents 43% of his club’s 56 goals scored thus far this season. Lille are tied for joint highest goals at this point of a campaign since 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 in terms of topflight goals scored during this season, having seen similar tallys at similar stages in both seasons. Benjamin Andre was suspended after amassing an excessive number of yellow cards; Tiago Djalo has been ruled out while Adam Ounas could return next month.
