Ligue 1 Uber Eats leaders Lille will attempt to put their midweek Coupe de France defeat to Paris Saint-Germain behind them when they host Nîmes on Sunday afternoon.
LILLE - NIMES
(kick-off at 16:00 GMT)
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Lille crashed out of the Coupe de France at the Round of 16 stage by losing 3-0 in the capital on Wednesday and want to sign off before the international window with a win against Nîmes to ensure they're in the best possible position ahead of another trip to Paris in Round 31 on April 3.
Lille coach Christophe Galtier, whose side go into Round 30 three points clear of PSG and Lyon at the top of the table, said: "The gap exists between PSG and us. We'll see what form the two sides are in when we meet again in three weeks time. First of all there's the important match for us against Nîmes. We know they're a team playing to stay in the division and they'll want to pull off a result. We'll need to be a lot more effective in attack and not commit defensive errors. What will happen in three weeks time against Paris Saint-Germain, nobody knows."
PSG pointers, Burak is back
Wednesday's Coupe de France defeat has given Galtier pointers as to how his team must perform when they return to the Parc des Princes at the start of next month. He said: "We didn't stick to our game plan which was to play our football. I believe that we are physically able to compete with them over the duration of a match and that's a lesson we need to take on board for the future. We didn't play a real Coupe de France match. The first half display wasn't good enough to compete with such opponents. Were we fearful of them? I don't know, I'll ask the question of my players. I will show them what I want when we debrief the match. We can't compete with PSG when we only play a half."
Veteran forward Burak Yilmaz started at PSG - his first start since two months out injured - and the Turkish international hit the crossbar on the half-hour before being substituted at half-time, replaced by club record signing Jonathan David. Galtier commented: "Burak is important to us with his character and presence. Keylor Navas made a good save from him but it might have been different had Burk had one or one-and-a-half more matches in his legs. Burak is getting back to full match fitness and we'll need him as he drags the team upwards."
Unbeaten in their last 11 league matches, Lille have dropped points of late as they have drawn three of their last five. Anything less than victory against a club 19th after 29 games would be a disappointment, especially as Les Crocodiles are in a mini-slump, managing two points from their last three outings having taken maximum hauls in each of the three previous matches.
Eliasson: "I think it will be very difficult"
Nîmes' Swedish midfielder Niclas Eliasson said: "This is a club where everybody is pulling in the same direction, whether it's the coach, the staff or the supporters, as we saw around the bus ahead of the derby last Sunday. Everybody is doing what they can in order to keep Nîmes in Ligue 1. The squad is motivated and works hard every day. We have nine matches left to play. I think it will be very difficult but we will do everything we can in order to keep the club in Ligue 1."
Probable Teams:
Lille: Maignan - Celik, Fonte (c), Botman, Reinildo - Weah, André, Sanches, Bamba - Ikoné, David.
Nimes : Reynet - Alakouch, Ueda, Landre, Meling - Cubas - Benrahou, Fomba, Ripart (c), Ferhat - Koné.