Bordeaux will look to bounce back immediately from their cruel defeat to Lyon when they welcome Ligue 1 table-toppers Lille to the Matmut Atlantique on Wednesday evening.
The visitors, meanwhile, returned to the top of the pile as Yusuf Yazici's winner was enough to see off Dijon at the weekend.
Match preview
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Having taken maximum points from their previous three matches ahead of last week's trip to the Groupama Stadium, the Bordeaux faithful had every right to expect their side to come away from their clash with Lyon with at least a share of the spoils.
Jean-Louis Gasset's men gave it a real good go against the title chasers as Samuel Kalu cancelled out Karl Toko Ekambi's opener, but a spectacular last-minute winner from Leo Dubois meant that Les Girondins' efforts ended up proving futile.
Football can be a cruel game, and to add insult to injury for Bordeaux, they have now slipped to 10th in the table after Metz, Lens and Angers all claimed vital victories in the hunt for a European place.
Gasset's men are certainly not out of the equation for a top-five finish, but they now find themselves four points below Rennes having played a game more, and Marseille - whose game was called off after supporters stormed their training complex - are level on points with Les Girondins with two games in hand.
One consolation for Bordeaux is that they cannot drop any further down the rankings should they lose to Lille, and they could rise as high as sixth should other results go their way, but Lille are sure to have a thing or two to say about that.
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Meanwhile, Lille did not rest on their laurels after Paris Saint-Germain's shock defeat to Lorient, as their title charge gathered pace with a 1-0 victory over relegation-threatened Dijon.
A fortuitous winner saw the much-coveted Yazici capitalise on a defensive calamity from Bruno Ecuele Manga, as the Turkey international dispossessed the Dijon defender before finishing calmly into an empty net, and that goal was all that separated the two teams despite the 18 places separating them in the table.
However, being able to grind out narrow wins against dogged defensive outfits is often what champions are made of, and Christophe Galtier's men are now sitting pretty at the top of the pile - two points above Lyon and three clear of PSG.
Since losing 2-1 to Angers on January 6, Lille boast a 100% record from their most recent four matches, although all of their victories in January only came by a solitary goal - with the absence of Burak Yilmaz being particularly felt by the title-chasing Dogues.
Even though goals are not in abundance for Lille at this moment in time, their defence has only been breached once during their four-game winning streak, and strikes from Jose Fonte and Jonathan Bamba helped Galtier's side secure a 2-1 win over Bordeaux earlier in the campaign.
Bordeaux Ligue 1 form: LDWWWL
Lille Ligue 1 form: WLWWWW
Team News
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Bordeaux have little to worry about on the injury front at the minute, with Otavio and Mehdi Zerkane the only players occupying spots in the medical room.
Yacine Adli has impressed in a more deep-lying role for the Girondins, but they have nevertheless bolstered their midfield with the loan signing of Jean Michael Seri from Fulham, but he will not be ready for this game.
February is a daunting month for all Ligue 1 sides in terms of fixtures, but it would be a surprise to see Gasset shuffle the pack for this crunch match.
Lille will have to contend with the suspension of midfielder Benjamin Andre for this tie, so Xeka or Renato Sanches will battle it out for a spot in the engine room.
Yilmaz is not expected to be fit in time for this showdown, but Galtier may be able to call upon Jeremy Pied if he recovers from a calf problem in time.
Luiz Araujo has kept Jonathan Ikone out of the team over the last couple of weeks, but Galtier may opt for a change this week given the quick turnaround in matches.
Bordeaux possible starting lineup:
Costil; Sabaly, Baysse, Koscielny, Benito; Adli, Basic; Kalu, Ben Arfa, Oudin; Hwang
Lille possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Celik, Fonte, Botman, Bradaric; Ikone, Soumare, Xeka, Bamba; David, Yazici
We say: Bordeaux 1-1 Lille
Neither of these two powerhouses give much away defensively, and Bordeaux were incredibly unfortunate not to claim at least a point from their battle with Lyon. Even though Lille are leading the way, the manner of their performances in 2021 has not been particularly dominant so far, and we can see Bordeaux doing enough to hold Les Dogues to a draw this week.
Top betting tip
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Lille win with a probability of 48.64%. A draw had a probability of 27% and a win for Bordeaux had a probability of 24.35%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lille win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.72%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.73%) and 1-2 (8.92%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.59%), while for a Bordeaux win it was 1-0 (8.88%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 4.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Lille would win this match.
