Lille vs. Real Madrid: Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

On Wednesday night, Real Madrid and Lille will play in the Champions League for the first time ever at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

After losing to Portugal, Lille were able to regain their place atop European football, while defending champions Real Madrid got off to a flawless start by defeating Stuttgart on the first matchday.

Previous Matches and Head to head

Real Madrid has gotten off to a perfect start in this league, winning their first match and then two consecutive matches against Espanyol and Alaves.

Los Blancos lost a nail-biter to their enraged rivals Atletico Madrid in the closing minutes of one of the season's most important games last weekend.

Real had a 1-0 lead into halftime due to crowd unrest, but Atletico rallied and equalized five minutes into extra time on a goal by Angel Correa.

Real Madrid now trail Barcelona by three points after their shocking loss at Osasuna, but they know they might have gotten within a point if they had hung on for a few more minutes.

Now they'll be focusing on their favorite tournament as the 15-time champions head to France in the hopes of snapping a two-game losing streak there, the second of which was against PSG.

Although this will be the first meeting between the two teams, manager Carlo Ancelotti's record against Lille is less than stellar, with only two victories in five encounters.

With a win here, Real will extend their undefeated streak under Zinedine Zidane from April 2016 to May 2017 to fifteen games, and they are now unbeaten in fourteen Champions League games, winning ten of them.

The holders' remarkable record will be tested this league phase, though, with two extremely difficult away visits to Liverpool and Atalanta later in the season.

However, Lille will be hoping they can be the team to break that run. Coming into this massive match, they will be thrilled to have halted their recent winless drought at the weekend.

Bruno Genesio's squad lost 2-0 away to Sporting Lisbon on matchday one, making them the only French team to go winless that day. Bruno's men retaliated by losing even more points in the league a few days later.

They blew a two-goal lead and were winless for the fifth game in a row in a 3-3 draw with Strasbourg; however, that streak ended last weekend at Le Havre, courtesy to an amazing effort by Jonathan David.

The Canadian scored three goals as Les Dogues cruised to a 3-0 victory at Stade Oceane, snapping their longest losing streak in more than six years, right in time to host the reigning European champions.

Despite the high-quality opposition, Lille has won seven of its past eight European home games since the beginning of last season, with only a 1-1 draw against Sturm Graz standing as an exception. This confidence boost may yet prove to be futile, though.

In 2021, they reversed an eight-game losing streak against Spanish clubs with a 2-1 victory over Sevilla in this tournament, their most recent meeting with a Spanish side.

Lille x Real Madrid Team News

After he left PSG in the summer, Kylian Mbappe was unable to return to France until after the international break due to a thigh injury.

Fran Garcia is questionable for this match due to his injury sustained in the Madrid derby, which left Marcos Llorente sent off for an ugly challenge. Thibaut Courtois will also be evaluated for fitness at the last minute following a muscle injury he sustained at the Metropolitano.

Eduardo Camavinga made a triumphant return to the team over the weekend after being out for more than a month due to an ACL tear; David Alaba, Brahim Diaz, and Dani Ceballos are all now out with similar injuries.

With Hakon Arnar Haraldsson out with a foot injury, Lille will be without their crucial young midfielder. Angel Gomes, who made his England debut not long ago, will also be sidelined following his red card against Sporting.

Two of Genesio's players are currently on fire: Edon Zhegrova, a wide receiver, and David, a central striker, have scored four goals apiece to put Lille in a winning position.

Also, Nabil Bentaleb is still sick, so his availability is uncertain, and Ismaily and Samuel Umtiti are also out with knee problems.

Our predictions

Real Madrid to win and over 2.5 goals @ 2.20 on Sky247.ng

Despite being severely outplayed by Stuttgart in the first meeting, Real should be able to pick up another win here by simply scoring more goals than their opponents. This is true even without Mbappe, since their firepower is dangerous.

Even though Lille has an outstanding record at home in Europe, they are considered underdogs for a reason, and Les Dogues will suffer their first Champions League loss in four games since 2012.

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