Dark horses Lille Welcome Austrian champions Storm Graz on matchday six at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy Champions League this Wednesday.

This will be the third time the clubs have met in 2024, having also met in the Conference League round of 16 last season, with Lille emerging victorious 4-1 on aggregate after a 3-0 first leg win in Graz.

Game preview

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Together with their French colleagues Monaco and Brest, Lille has been one of the surprise teams in the Champions League so far this season.

Victories over both Madrid clubs and four points in duels with Italian opponents Juventus and Bologna mean Bruno GenesioThe men are on the at the top of the top eightsits outside the automatic last 16 places on goal difference in a crowded table.

The statistic that most illustrates their phenomenal start is the fact that they have now won six of their last eight group/league games in the competition, the same number of wins as they had in their first 39 such games.

They now face what the coefficient would describe as their easiest game in the entire league phase, fourth-placed Sturm Graz on home soil, and they hope to end a run of 14 straight home games in the Champions League, in which they only scored one goal or less.

This will be the game in which they most want to take three of the last three points before traveling to Liverpool before finishing the league phase at home to Feyenoord.

However, Les Dogues will be no team to fear considering they are unbeaten in 14 games since losing to Sporting Lisbon on matchday one.

This run was extended on Friday when Jonathan David scored his 100th goal in Lille colors en route to a 3-1 win over Brest kept her in fourth place and within reach of Marseille and Monaco in the top three.

As if the task wasn’t daunting enough, you have to remember that the visiting Sturm have a history that they will have to overcome if they want to take anything away here, considering they have never won a European game in France and lost on four of their five trips.

The last of these defeats came on matchday one when they lost 2-1 to debutants Brest, but they should take more confidence in that defeat after picking up their first points of the season with a win against Girona on matchday five.

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Interim manager Jürgen Saumel oversaw this victory after he took office Christian Ilzerwho moved to Hoffenheim and the new coach have been unbeaten in four games since taking office.

However, this success is likely to be at risk here, considering that Sturm have only won one of their 14 Champions League away games and lost 11.

To have a chance of making it into the top 24, the Austrians need to win at least two of their last three games, and even then that might not be enough.

With the domestic season now temporarily paused for the winter, Sturm’s next three games will all be in the Champions League, meaning they will go over a month without a competitive game before facing Atalanta and RB Leipzig in the final two .

Saumel led Sturm to a 3-0 away win in Tyrol to give them a bye for the winter break at the weekend, keeping them three points clear Leader of the Austrian Bundesliga.

Lille Champions League form:

Lille form (all competitions):

Sturm Graz Champions League form:

Form of Sturm Graz (all competitions):

Team news

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David will take the lead after scoring Lille’s 100th goal at the weekend, and behind him Ngal’ayel Mukau will attempt to become the youngest player to score in back-to-back Champions League games for the club.

Mitchel Bakker will be available despite a domestic ban following a red card against Montpellier and will hope for a few minutes of play Gabriel Gudmundsson as a left-back.

As for the injuries, Angel Gomes is the most notable absentee to join Tiago Santos, Ethan Mbappe, Samuel Umtiti And Nabil Bentaleb on the edge.

Sturm remains without a regular goalkeeper Kjell Scherpensuch a Russian boy Daniil Chudyakov is expected to represent the Brighton & Hove Albion loanee again.

After a long period with a torn cruciate ligament, Alexander Borkovic is back in training and could return to the team in the near future.

However, when he makes a comeback, Erencan Yardimci sustained an injury at the weekend and had to be substituted shortly beforehand Tochi Chukwuani was sent off, but this domestic layoff will not affect his availability here.

Lille possible starting lineup:
Knight; Meunier, Alexsandro, Diakite, Bakker; Mukau, Andre, Bouaddi; Zhegrova, David, Sahrawi

Sturm Graz possible starting lineup:
Khudyakov: Gazibegovic, Aiwu, Geyrhofer, Lavalee; Chukwuani, Yalcouye, Boving, Kiteishvili; Biereth, Jatta

We say: Lille – Sturm Graz 2:1

After a 14-game unbeaten run in which they have beaten some of Europe’s top clubs, it would be a huge shock not to win at home against one of the competition’s weakest clubs and Lille should get the job done.

However, it will not be easy against a strike team that is so strong under interim coach Saumel and the visitors could make things difficult for Les Dogues, even if defeat is likely.

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