Home form can carry Lille

Lille finished last season on a run of seven wins from nine matches at Stade Pierre-Mauroy and Bruno Genesio’s side look decent value to get the better of Monaco in Sunday’s home match.

Monaco finished third in Ligue 1 last season, just ahead of Lille. They achieved 61 points from 18 wins, seven draws and nine losses, while Lille ended the campaign with 60 points, having won 17 games, drawn nine and lost eight.

Lille let a 2-0 lead slip in a 3-3 draw with Brest in their opening Ligue 1 game. Veteran Olivier Giroud opened the scoring on 11 minutes, with Hakon Haraldsson and Ngal’ayel Mukau also finding the net.

Lille were priced as 23/20 favourites to win but were unable to reward their backers.

Monaco, meanwhile, opened up with a 3-1 win over Le Havre, but this represents a tougher test for a defence that finished last season leaking goals, with no clean sheets in their last four Ligue 1 away games.

Lille may be able to edge out Monaco in a closely-fought game, with a 2-1 home win the correct-score pick. Both teams have scored in six of Lille’s last eight Ligue 1 games and eight of their league matches were won by a single goal last season.

Click here to learn more about Spotlight iQ

Edited by Joe Champion