LOSC - AS Monaco Sunday at 13:00 CET (1200 GMT)

Lille will have had barely 64 hours rest between coming off the field after their Europa League win over Sparta Prague on Thursday and kicking off again at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. It hardly seems like an ideal amount of time to prepare for such a big game against a fellow contender at the top of the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table, but such are the demands being placed on clubs in this most extraordinary of seasons.

“It won’t prevent us from being there on Sunday and we will need to play well against quality opposition, a side who run a lot and are very good technically,” Lille coach Christophe Galtier said, although it will not have escaped his attention that Les Dogues have not won any of their previous four league games this season immediately following a European match.

At least LOSC have now got the job done in the Europa League, securing qualification for the last 32 with one group game to spare after coming from behind to defeat 10-man Sparta 2-1 thanks to a brace from super-sub Burak Yilmaz, who now has eight goals in total for the season. That means Galtier can rest players for the final Group H match away to already-eliminated Celtic next week if he so wishes, although Lille are yet to secure first place.

Highlights: Lille come back to draw with Saint-Etienne

“By finishing first we will not be able to play one of the teams dropping out of the Champions League which would be helpful. For the last match, I am thinking of starting players who have not had much game time, especially considering the run of matches we have coming up,” Galtier said.

'Burak lives and breathes football'

In the meantime, the evergreen 35-year-old Yilmaz will hope to return to the starting line-up against Monaco after his Turkish compatriot Yusuf Yazici partnered Jonathan David through the middle of the attack against the Czechs.

“When players of his age perform so well it is not by chance. Burak lives and breathes football, he eats football. He has the perfect lifestyle,” said Galtier. “Playing on Thursday and then Sunday is difficult for him, but we decided at the start of the season that he could be useful coming on in games in the Europa League.”

Meanwhile Renato Sanches and Zeki Çelik have been hoping to return from injury against Monaco, with Galtier saying he would take a decision on Sunday morning.

Highlights: Monaco make it four in a row

It is an alluring contest, with Lille and Monaco coming into the weekend in second and fourth place respectively. Along with Olympique Lyonnais and Montpellier Hérault SC they ended last weekend just two points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain. This game therefore represents an opportunity for these two ambitious clubs. Lille have lost just once in 17 matches in all competitions this season and are unbeaten at home, while Monaco have won their last four games and scored 12 goals in the process, with Kevin Volland netting five of those.

“It is really tight at the top of the table, but we just need to keep doing our job and focusing on ourselves,” said Monaco coach Niko Kovac after last week’s 3-0 home victory against Nîmes Olympique.

“The most important thing is to continue our progression and keep showing that we have a style of play. We have a young team and we maybe can’t make progress all the time. We will probably get occasional reminders of that, but the important thing will be to keep on lifting ourselves up and never stop working.”

Probable teams

Lille: Maignan; Djalo, Fonte, Botman, Bradaric; Ikoné, André, Xeka, Bamba; Yilmaz, David

Monaco: Mannone; Aguilar, Disasi, Badiashile, Caio Henrique; Diop, Fofana, Tchouaméni, Martins; Volland, Ben Yedder