Lille vs Ajaccio Prediction: A win for the home team

At the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Saturday afternoon, Lille will host Ajaccio, who are fighting for a playoff spot in the Ligue 1 standings. Lille is currently holding on to the final European spot. The most recent match between Les Dogues and Auxerre ended in a 1-1 tie, while the encounter between Brest and Ajaccio ended in a scoreless stalemate, which did little to help the flimsy chances of survival.

When they play relegation-threatened Ajaccio at the Decathlon Arena, Lille, who is still vying for European qualifying in Ligue One, will be expected to pick up another three points. In the fight for a spot in the Champions League, Lille, who is now fifth in the division but some ten points behind the top three, will be conscious of the threat from Rennes, who is currently sixth but just three points behind them.

With only six games left, the visitors are 10 points outside of safety, which presents significant challenges for the hosts Ajaccio.

The team in the fifth position will be aiming to occupy the last spot for European football next season. Lille has won all seven matches played with their opponent. Lille has played 32 Ligue 1 games this season with 16 games won, 8 drawn, and 8 lost. 

However, at home, Lille has been in good form with 10 of the 16 games played won, 4 games drawn, and 2 games lost. This season, Lille has scored 57 goals but conceded 40. Most of the goals has been scored at home (33 of the 57) and this indicates the potency of Lille at home. 

Lille's possible starting lineup:

Goalkeeper: Chevalier; 

Defenders: Diakite, Fonte, Alexsandro, Ismaily; 

Midfielders: Andre Gomes, Andre, Angel Gomes, Cabella, Bamba; 

Striker: David

It seems Ajaccio will go back to Ligue 2 considering the current predicament the team is in. Ajaccio is in 19th position on the league table and has an indifferent form either at home or away. of the 32 league games played, Ajaccio has won 6, drawn 4, and lost an amazing 22 games. Away from home, Ajaccio has won 3, drawn 2, and lost 11 of the 16 games played. The same statistics can be observed when Ajaccio played at home. 

Ajaccio has scored 22 goals but conceded a whopping 58 games. 

Ajaccio's possible starting lineup:

Goalkeeper: Leroy; 

Defenders: Diallo, Vidal, Gonzalez, Kone; 

Midfielders: Bayala, Marchetti, Mangani, Belaili; 

Strikers: Hamouma, El Idrissy

With only 22 points so far this season, Ajaccio appears doomed to return to Ligue 2, but Lille have been playing well lately, with the hosts losing only one of their past eight league games. More recently, Lille has won three of its previous five Ligue 1 games, and they should be confident of doing so again today.

Lille has excelled at the Decathlon Arena, where they are presently unbeaten in 13 Ligue 1 games. Lille is returning to their home ground. Since losing consecutive home games against PSG and Nice in August, Lille has won four of their last five games in front of their own fans, posting a very impressive return of nine wins from those 13 unbeaten games.

In each of their last five home games, the hosts have put on strong goal-scoring displays, scoring at least two goals. In fact, Lille has scored 2.0 goals per game on average in front of their own supporters in 2023. Ajaccio, on the other hand, has had fairly poor form. The visitors have now lost seven of their past eight away games, losing by at least two goals in five of those contests, after losing six of their previous seven games and earning just one point since February.