There is hope for Lille. Authors of an encouraging performance in Birmingham against Aston Villa last Thursday (2-1), Paulo Fonseca's men will have the mission of showing the same intentions to hope to qualify for the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League. This Thursday, in a sold-out Decathlon Arena, Lille will have to show more realism in front of Emiliano Martinez, who made several decisive saves in the first leg.
Exempted from matches this weekend by the LFP like PSG and OM, Losc should have greater freshness than Aston Villa. Unaï Emery's men will nevertheless travel with a high level of confidence. Fourth in the Premier League, they remain on a benchmark success acquired on the Arsenal pitch (2-0) thanks to goals at the end of the match from Leon Bailey and their top scorer Ollie Watkins. The Villans striker also constitutes the number one threat for the Lille rearguard. Scorer in the first leg, he notably scored 19 goals in the Premier League.
Voted player of the month for March in Ligue 1, Edon Zhegrova could miss this European meeting due to ankle pain. Without Kosovar, Lille will have to find other solutions to generate danger from the wings. To qualify in regulation time, Lille must win by two goals. In the event of a one-goal advantage at the end of 90 minutes, there will be extra time.
The match can be watched this Thursday, April 18 at 6:45 p.m. on RMC Sport 1, BFM Grand Lille and BFM Grand Littoral.