Montpellier HSC entertain league leaders Lille in Ligue 1 on Wednesday, with the hosts able to end the calendar year in a top four position with a win.
Lille head into the game level on points with Lyon at the top of the table, with a superior goal difference of one, so they may require a heavy win to remain top at Christmas.
Match preview
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Montpellier, who stunned the world by winning Ligue 1 for the first time in the club's history in 2012, have established themselves as a stable top-flight club in recent years, finishing eighth last season prior to the curtailment of all French football due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The club have one of the league's longest-serving managers in Michel Der Zakarian, who has been in charge since 2017, with the former Armenia international guiding his team to 27 points from 16 matches to sit in a very respectable sixth position.
In Andy Delort, Montpellier have one of the in-form forwards in the league, with the 29-year-old salvaging a draw at Brest with a late equaliser on Sunday.
Indeed, after winning four matches in a row not long ago, standards have dipped a little in recent weeks with just four points from their last four matches. Der Zakarian will be urging his side to improve if they are to have any chance of gaining a positive result against Lille.
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Having only been one point behind Rennes in third place at the time French football was curtailed last season, Lille could consider themselves unfortunate not to be competing in the Champions League this season.
Christophe Galtier, who like his forthcoming counterpart has also been in charge of the club since 2017, looks to be putting that right this season, with Sunday's 0-0 draw against Paris Saint-Germain keeping Lille top of the league.
Only PSG have conceded as few goals as Lille's tally of 10 in the against column so far this season, so perhaps Sunday's result was not as surprising as it may have seemed given the amount of attacking talent on the pitch.
Indeed, the likes of Burak Yilmaz, Jonathan Bamba and Yusuf Yazici have all chipped in this season to help Lille qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League as well as ensuring being top at Christmas is in their own hands when they travel to Montpellier on Wednesday.
Montpellier HSC Ligue 1 form: WWLWLD
Lille Ligue 1 form: WDWWWD
Lille form (all competitions): WWLWWD
Team News
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Montpellier appear to have only one injury concern, with Teji Savanier expected to be out until the New Year with a muscle issue.
Der Zakarian is likely to utilise a back five system in an attempt to contain a superior Lille side in terms of individual quality.
Lille, meanwhile, are likely to be without Renato Sanches, who has been linked with a move to Liverpool in recent days, Luiz Araujo and Jeremy Pied through injury, with all expected to return after the winter break.
Record signing Jonathan David may come into the starting XI having only been utilised from the substitutes' bench during the draw with PSG.
Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:
Omlin; Souquet, Mendes, Hilton, Congre, Cozza; Mollet, Chotard, Dolly; Laborde, Delort
Lille possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Celik, Fonte, Botman, Mandava; Ikone, Andre, Soumare, Bamba; David, Yilmaz
We say: Montpellier HSC 0-2 Lille
We expect Lille to be too strong for the hosts, with Montpellier perhaps lacking the offensive quality to trouble the visitors in transition.
Should David receive a start, this could be the match which really kick-fires his Lille career after a stuttering start to life in France.
Top betting tip
Brett Curtis
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 47.73%. A win for Montpellier HSC had a probability of 27.35% and a draw had a probability of 24.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lille win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.36%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.4%) and 0-2 (8.24%). The likeliest Montpellier HSC win was 1-0 (7.44%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.82%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 2.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Lille would win this match.
