LOSC Lille vs Le Havre Prediction: LOSC Lille have no excuse

LOSC Lille have lost back-to-back games on a bounce and they are beginning to feel the pressure to keep their place on the league table. The defeat to PSG last weekend now places them on the same point as RC Lens in 6th place, so any result from this game against Le Havre will decide whether they will remain in 5th or drop down.

Le Havre are not much of a worthy opponent for LOSC Lille but at the moment, they are chasing a win and they will fancy their chances against LOSC Lille in this game. Le Havre are around the mid-table region and that might not disappoint them so much, but they need to get back to winning or they might drop further down the table. 

Hence LOSC Lille and Le Havre face each other in a battle to keep their spots on the league table and the only way to do that is to win.

LOSC Lille were hoping to respond after crashing out of the the Coup de France when they lost 2-1 to Olympique Lyon. But they lost once again against the league leaders Paris Saint Germain last weekend. Although the defeat comes with little surprise, it puts them in contention for the 5th spot on the league table. At the moment, they retain 5th spot with 35 points and RC Lens are in 6th with the same amount of points.

LOSC Lille now turn their attention to Le Havre, who are also struggling at the moment and are not such a great team and the expectation is for LOSC Lille to bounce back and get all 3 points. 

Jonathan David will be leading the forward line against Le Havre and the team will look to him to deliver the goals needed to beat Le Havre. Jonathan David has registered 8 goals in 21 league matches. He netted a double against Clermont Foot earlier this month, but failed to score against Olympique Lyon and Paris Saint Germain. Le Havre are not much of an opposition, so Jonathan David will be eager to get his name on the scoresheet. 

Le Havre are not really an ambitious team and they would be satisfied to end in mid-table. But after back-to-back defeats in their last 2 games and 4 games without a win, they might want to get serious if they intend to end in that position. They lost 3-1 to Strasbourg in the Coup de France round of 16 and then lost 1-0 to Stade Rennes at home last weekend.

Le Havre were brilliant in the first half against Stade Rennes as they managed to keep Rennes from scoring, but it was not meant to last long. Benjamin Bourigeaud finally broke the deadlock to put Stade Rennes ahead in the 60th minute and Le Havre lost the game by the single goal at full time. 

Le Havre would need to improve their defense ahead of the trip to Stade Pierre Mauroy. Christopher Operi was the standout player for Le Havre in the defeat to Stade Rennes. He has registered 4 assists in 17 matches for Le Havre. He also averages 1.2 interceptions per game, 1.9 tackles per game and 1.8 clearance per game. If Le Havre would get anything from this game, then players like Christopher would need to step up.

According to the head-to-head, LOSC Lille and Le Havre have only played 6 matches against each other. LOSC Lille won 5 matches and they played a draw once.

The game seems like a one-sided affair with all the advantages pointing towards LOSC Lille. It would be a huge disappointment if they don't get all 3 points. Despite the setbacks in recent weeks, LOSC Lille are still a top team and they should be trashing teams like Le Havre.

Analysis of the head-to-head record shows Le Havre have not kept a clean sheet in the last 5 meetings against LOSC Lille and they have seen less than 4.5 cards shown in all 6 meetings. 

• LOSC Lille to Win and Under 5.5 Goals at 1.6 Odds
• Under 9.5 Total Corners at 1.7 Odds
• LOSC Lille to Win 2-0 at 6.50 Odds