Given the way the two sides started the ongoing domestic campaign, it is safe to say Lille and Saint-Etienne are on a rise in form. And this evening, the Stade Pierre-Mauroy will see two resurgent Ligue 1 squad meet in the weekend’s opening action.The hosts are closing in on the European spots and the visitors are escaping the relegation zone – thanks to similar positive results lately (each of the two teams have won three of their last five games). Les Dogues made it back-to-back victories in the league last weekend while Saint-Etienne succeeded in making it 10 points from their last five games.Lille’s 4-0 thrashing of Clermont came after dominating much of the match – Jonathan Bamba opened the scoring after just three minutes and the floodgates opened when Clermont’s Salis Abdul Samed was dismissed shortly after the hour mark.PSG wants to renew Mbappe at all costs, Neymar denies rift with DonnarummaJocelyn Gourvennec’s side are now within touching distance of the European places – just two places and two points behind fifth-placed Strasbourg.The reigning champions will have to keep their wits about them against another side on the rise since the tight nature of the table means Les Dogues could also fall all the way back to 10th with a loss this weekend. The table at the bottom is pretty tight and Les Verts finally managed to escape danger, moving up to 17th for the first time since the first few weeks of the campaign (all four of the teams who came into last weekend locked together on 22 points at the bottom of the table).His name is Galtier, and he’s probably the most underrated coach in Europe nowadaysUnder Claude Puel in the first half of the season they picked up just two wins – tables have turned under new manager Pascal Dupraz and Saint-Etienne have already managed four victories in 2022 as the revival continues.Now that Burak Yilmaz has recovered from his groin issue with a substitute appearance against Clermont, Lille boss Gourvennec has a fully-fit squad to choose from. Hatem Ben Arfa will most likely drop back to the bench if the experienced Turk is deemed fit enough to return to the starting eleven. Benjamin Andre has been a lynchpin in Lille’s recent rise and he came back in the last match after a one-game ban.Slapping players, smoking cigars and donating wine: meet one weird football presidentOn the other hand – the visitors have a fair few injury problems to deal with. At the moment Saidou Sow, Enzo Crivelli and Yvann Macon are all out of action. Wahbi Khazri was able to return last time out from the bench and will now be pushing for a starting spot.Both sides are in good form, Dupraz’s side have proven very difficult to beat but many favour the reigning champions as they hold the home advantage and a better recent record in latest head-to-head encounters.LIGUE 1 – ROUND 28Friday23:00: (1.75) Lille (3.70) Saint-Etienne (5.40)Saturday19:00: (3.30) Montpellier (3.25) Nice (2.40)23:00: (3.15) Troyes (3.05) Nantes (2.60)Sunday15:00: (1.15) PSG (10.0) Bordeaux (18.0)17:00: (4.00) Metz (3.20) Lens (2.15)17:00: (2.45) Angers (3.10) Reims (3.40)17:00: (2.40) Clermont (3.15) Lorient (3.40)17:00: (2.60) Strasbourg (3.20) Monaco (3.00)19:05: (2.15) Olympique Lyon (3.50) Rennes (3.60)22:45: (3.60) Brest (3.40) Olympique Marseille (2.20)***odds are subject to change***.
