Lille OSC’s form this season has been middling, to say the least, even if they do currently sit fifth in Ligue 1 with three wins, one draw and two losses.
There was change at LOSC over the summer with Bruno Genesio replacing Paulo Fonseca on the sideline. The Portuguese manager had reached the end of his contract with the French club and left to join AC Milan. However, whilst there was a change in the dugout, the mass player exodus did not quite take form.
Granted, Leny Yoro, so important in the defence, left his formative club. However, the likes of Jonathan David, Edon Zhegrova, Angel Gomes, Tiago Santos, and Lucas Chevalier, all so key to Lille’s success, stayed. As a result, this Lille team set up in a similar way to how they did last season.
Whilst LOSC’s press isn’t as intense as it was under Fonseca, this is a team that still likes to control possession, but they are also happy to play on the break, exploiting Zhegorva’s one-on-one dribbling ability in transition. The results in Genesio’s opening weeks have been varied and at times, that lack of intensity has seen high-level criticism, notably from club president Olivier Létang, who was scathing in his assessment of LOSC’s 1-0 loss to AS Saint-Étienne.
However, injuries have not been kind to Lille and they head into Wednesday night’s UEFA Champions League encounter against Real Madrid diminished too, with multiple players absent either through suspension or through injury. Gomes, Ethan Mbappé, Samuel Umtiti, Nabil Bentaleb, Hákon Arnar Hadaldssson, and Ngal’ayel Mukau all miss out for Genesio’s side as they host the reigning Champions League champions.
Lille likely line-up v Real Madrid
Lucas Chevalier; Gabriel Gudmundsson, Alexsandro, Bafodé Diakité, Thomas Meunier; Ayyoub Bouaddi, Benjamin André; Osame Sahraoui, Rémy Cabella, Edon Zhegrova; Jonathan David. (L’Éq)
