Preview: Metz vs. Lille: lineups, news about the teams, and predictions
Last time out, the Grenats narrowly prevailed at home against Le Havre, while Les Dogues unexpectedly lost away at Monaco.
With back-to-back victories over Lens and most recently, another struggling team Le Havre, Metz have significantly increased their chances of avoiding a return to Ligue 2, having suffered three straight losses in Ligue 1 between the middle of March and the beginning of April.
Georges Mikautadze, a striker for Les Grenats, scored his 10th goal of the season to break through Le Havre goalkeeper Arthur Desmas’s net after a goalless first half between two teams fighting for their life at the bottom of the standings.
Since the Georgia international only signed a contract on loan from Ajax, a major Dutch team, in the January transfer window, it is reasonable to assume that the attacker will play a significant role in helping Metz avoid having to immediately return to Ligue 2, where they finished second the previous season.
Laszlo Boloni’s team is now in 15th place in the Ligue 1 rankings going into the final four games of the top flight. They are three points ahead of 17th-placed Lorient, but just one ahead of Le Havre in the relegation playoff zone.
Lille has gained three points from their last two Ligue 1 games since losing to Unai Emery’s Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League quarterfinals. This means that, as the season draws to a close, Lille’s fate in the Champions League remains in their hands.
Nevertheless, Les Dogues’ chances of participating in UEFA’s top league the next season were severely damaged on Wednesday night when Lille visited second-placed Monaco and came back empty-handed after Youssouf Fofana’s the second half winner for the host.
Paulo Fonseca’s team is currently in fourth place in the Ligue 1 standings at the end of the season, one point behind Brest in third place, who are in the bottom half of the spots that will guarantee an automatic spot in the Champions League league phase. This is after the team finished fifth previous season.
Les Dogues’ terrible away performance will be the reason if they are unable to clinch a Champions League spot. After three wins and sixteen points from their 15 away games in Ligue 1 this season, the visitors are currently ranked 13th in terms of points gained on the road.
Team News
Due to an injury, striker Benjamin Tetteh, a former Hull City player, will not be available for Metz on Sunday and won’t return until early May. Joel Asoro, a former young player for Arsenal, will not be available for Les Grenats to utilize because he sustained an injury during the team’s most recent defeat at Monaco.
As for the visiting Lille team, their backline is still severely lacking in Samuel Umtiti, the World Cup winner, who is still healing from a February-related knee injury. Andrej Ilic, a striker for Les Dogues, injured his foot in the beginning of February and is aiming for a quick comeback before the season ends.
Adam Ounas, who was last seen in April, is currently in Lille’s medical room because of a problematic calf injury.
Potential starting lineup for the Mets would be as follows: Oukidja; Van den Kerkhof, Diallo; Mikautadze; Colib, Traore, Sane, Udol; Camara, N’Doram, Atta;
Starting lineup for Lille that could be used is: Chevalier; Santos, Diakite, Ribeiro, Gudmundsson; Andre, Bouaddi, Yazici, Gomes, Cabella? David